It is fairly common in wetter coastal areas, but rare in the drier eastern parts and absent in Canterbury and Otago.

S. medullaris can be readily distinguished from related species by the hexagonal stipe scars on the trunk, and by the scales with spines on their margins.

It is also possible to plant newly felled trunks which will generally sprout again, provided they are watered with care.

[8] Tree fern trunks, including those of S. medullaris, have been used as rough building material and also for makeshift trackwork.

[7] The 1889 book The Useful Native Plants of Australia records that Indigenous Australians ate the pith of this fern tree which contained a certain amount of starch similar to sago.