Biology:Cyathea metteniana

Cyathea metteniana
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Pteridophyta
Class:	Pteridopsida
Order:	Cyatheales
Family:	Cyatheaceae
Genus:	Cyathea
Subgenus:	Cyathea
Section:	Alsophila
Species:	C. metteniana
Binomial name
Cyathea metteniana (Hance) C. Christensen & Tardieu, 1934
Synonyms
Alsophila metteniana Hance, 1868 Alsophila formosana Baker, 1891 Cyathea formosana (Baker) Copeland, 1909 Alsophila formosa (Baker) J. E. Braggins & M. F. Large orth. var., 2004

Cyathea metteniana is a species of tree fern native to the Ryukyu Islands, Japan , and Taiwan, where it grows in wet forest, forest margins, and on hillsides. The trunk of this plant is erect, up to 1 m tall, and 6–10 cm in diameter. C. metteniana has tripinnate fronds that are 1-2.5 m long. The stipe is brown to purple-black in colouration. It is covered in long, broad-based scales that are usually bicoloured (glossy brown with a paler margin). Sori are round, lack indusia, and occur in two rows, one on either side of the pinnule midvein.

The specific epithet metteniana commemorates pteridologist Georg Heinrich Mettenius (1823-1866), who himself named several Cyathea species.

References

• Braggins, John E. & Large, Mark F. 2004. Tree Ferns. Timber Press, Inc., p. 223. ISBN:0-88192-630-2
• The International Plant Names Index: Cyathea metteniana

Wikidata ☰ Q3335589 entry