Fern plants. Like all other vascular plants, the diploid sporophyte is the dominant phase or generation in the life cycle. The gametophytes of ferns, however, are very different from those of seed plants. They are free-living and resemble liverworts, whereas those of seed plants develop within the spore wall and are dependent on the parent sporophyte for their nutrition. A fern gametophyte typically consists of: Ferns first appear in the fossil record in the early Carboniferous period. By the Triassic, the first evidence of ferns related to several modern families appeared. The great fern radiation occurred in the late Cretaceous, when
Tasmanian ferns ferns most preferred substrates in on the trunks of Dicksonia Antarctica. The fern is not only found in Tasmania but also on the Australian mainland and New Zealand. Commonly known as Kangaroo fern, Microsorum pustulatum has smooth leathery bright green fronds. They spread via the fragmentation of their hairy rhizomes and can live as epiphytic plant growing on the trunks of plants such as Dicksonia Antarctica or as a lithophytic plant growing over rocks and logs. The plant is distributed over mainland Australia and Tasmania Commonly named Filmy Ferns, there are many species of Hypmenophyllum to be found in Tasmania’s