Cyathea croftii Holttum (1982: 387)

Lehnert, Marcus, 2011, Species of Cyathea in America related to the western Pacific species C. decurrens, Phytotaxa 26, pp. 39-59 : 44

3. Cyathea croftii Holttum (1982: 387) . Type:— PAPUA NEW GUINEA. Admiralty Islands: Manus Island , 500 m, Croft 1204 (holotype K)

Distribution and habitat: —Vogelkop-Peninsular, West Papua, Indonesia, on old landslides at 1200-1600 m and Admirality Islands, Manus Island, in undergrowth of slope forests at 500 m.

Remarks: —In March 2011, I found Cyathea croftii ( Fig. 1 ) on the Vogelkop Peninsular, Prov. West Papua, Indonesia, which was previously only known from Manus Island, Admirality Islands, Papua New Guinea. Its presence was anticipated because of unconfirmed reports of a scaly tree fern on the mainland of New Guinea characterized by spores with verrucate exospore (Robert Johns, David S. Conant, personal communication). Such spores are common in Neotropical Cyathea sensu stricto, but not known from Alsophila and Sphaeropteris , which were the only genera of Cyatheaceae hitherto known from the main island of New Guinea. A thorough comparison of both collections is still pending.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Trunk morphology. A. Cyathea croftii, Prov. West Papua, Indonesia (© Marcus Lehnert). B–C. Cyathea epaleata, Moorea, Tahiti (© Joel Nitta); B. Detail of trunk apex; C. Detail of lateral bud. D. Cyathea howeana, cultivated in Perth, Australia (© Neville Crawford). E. Cyathea arnecornelii, showing new flush of fronds, Prov. La Paz, Bolivia (© Marcus Lehnert). F. Cyathea vilhelmii, showing pale, spreading scales on trunk apex and petioles, Prov. Zamora- Chinchipe, Ecuador (© Marcus Lehnert). G. Cyathea cicatricosa, type plant, New Caledonia (reproduced from Holttum & Edwards 1982, © Kew Publishing). H. Cyathea moranii, Prov. Zamora-Chinchipe, Ecuador (© Marcus Lehnert). J. Cyathea xenoxyla, showing strong similarity with A. and B., Prov. Zamora-Chinchipe, Ecuador (© Marcus Lehnert).