The Soft Tree Fern is a species of evergreen tree fern native to eastern Australia, ranging from south-east Queensland, coastal New South Wales and Victoria to Tasmania. These ferns can grow to 15 m (49 ft) in height, but more typically grow to about 4.5-5 m (15-16 ft), and consist of an erect rhizome forming a trunk. They are very hairy at the base of the stipe (trunk). The large, dark green, roughly-textured fronds spread in a canopy of 2-6 m (6 ft 7 in - 19 ft 8 in) in diameter. [from wikipedia]

Wood Fern is a species of wood fern. It is native to the west coast and western interior mountain ranges of North America, from British Columbia, throughout California, and into Arizona. It grows between sea level and 6,000 feet (1,800 m). It is found in mixed evergreen forests, oak woodlands, and shady lower elevation slopes in chaparral and woodlands habitats. [from wikipedia]

Distinctive black stems and dark veining throughout the fronds beautifully contrasts the shiny-green foliage of this attractive evergreen fern. Creating 12" mounds, these ferns are perfect for massing or for edging in the shade garden.[from forest farms]

Western Swordfern is an evergreen fern native to western North America, where it is one of the most abundant ferns. It occurs along the Pacific coast from southeastern Alaska to southern California, and also inland east to southeastern British Columbia, northern Idaho and western Montana, with isolated populations in interior northern British Columbia, the Black Hills in South Dakota, and on Guadalupe Island off Baja California. [from wikipedia]

Ferns first appear in the fossil record about 360 million years ago in the late Devonian period, but many of the current families and species did not appear until roughly 145 million years ago in the early Cretaceous, after flowering plants came to dominate many environments.[from wikipedia]