Dicksonia youngiae, common name Bristly Tree Fern, is a fern

Fern

A fern is any one of a group of about 12,000 species of plants belonging to the botanical group known as Pteridophyta. Unlike mosses, they have xylem and phloem . They have stems, leaves, and roots like other vascular plants...

 that comes from cool, sheltered rainforest

Rainforest

Rainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions based on a minimum normal annual rainfall of 1750-2000 mm...

s in New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

 and Queensland

Queensland

Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. It is found north of the Bellinger River

Bellinger River

The Bellinger River is a river on the mid north coast of New South Wales. Clement Hodgkinson was the first person to explore the area in March 1841....

, in New South Wales, and can be seen in the wild at Nightcap National Park

Nightcap National Park

Nightcap National Park is in New South Wales, Australia, 35 km north of Lismore. It is classed by the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas as Category II...

.

Similar to D. squarrosa, it sends up multiple trunks and can grow 4 m high. The species is relatively fast growing and capable of adding 10 cm of growth to its trunk in a single growing season. Trunks often become unstable when they reach around 3 m in height and topple over. If the trunk is in contact with the ground a new plantlet will often grow from the fallen trunk. Dicksonia youngiae is not fully hardy and will not tolerate more than a few degrees of frost.

Bristly Tree Fern fronds are a glossy, deep green color. Course, reddish hairs densely cover the stipes and fiddlehead

Fiddlehead

Fiddleheads or Fiddlehead greens are the furled fronds of a young fern, harvested for use as a vegetable. Left on the plant, each fiddlehead would unroll into a new frond...

s. It is intolerant of heat and needs shelter from wind.