The Tree Fern was the Head of Acquisitions for PPC Bioengineering Inc., a company set up to provide money for the PPC by selling products acquired from canon worlds; because of this organisation, athelas has become a common "secret ingredient" in Real World medicines. The Tree Fern's job was to acquire the products to be modified and sold.
During the events of the Reorganisation, the Tree Fern had a good deal of contact with the Mary Sue Factory; it was in the Factory that he was imprisoned by the Nightshade and the Orchid, and later executed by the Mysterious Somebody.