By Andrew1960
United Kingdom 
I have had a treefern for 13 years winter 2011 was bad & it did not produce any fronds in 2012 the crown has never shown any signs of rotting in june 2013 I have the top 8"off & the centre of the crown is hard slightly moist & of alight colour is the treefern dormant or is it dead
18 Jun, 2013
Well it's dead now, as you've just cut off any part that might have produced fronds!
Rest assured , it was probably dead (I hope) but they do take a while to emerge. Mine have just unfurled in the last three days, and they're under cover.
18 Jun, 2013