Specimen
Habitat
MP-0005 / 0024 â Cyatheaceae
Cyathea podophylla (Hook.) Copel.
Kurohego (JP)
A slender tree fern with near-black stalks, growing in the shade of its larger cousin.
Distribution
Ryukyu Islands, Taiwan, southern China and northern Indochina.
Habitat
Humid evergreen forest on slopes and in valleys, usually in shaded, sheltered positions.
Morphology
A tree fern with a slender erect trunk and a crown of large, 2-pinnate fronds. The stalks (stipes) are dark, almost black, which gives the plant its Japanese name (kuro = black).
Botanical notes
Smaller and more slender than Sphaeropteris lepifera, and often found growing beside it in the same forest. Like all Cyatheaceae it is listed in CITES Appendix II.
References
Taxonomy and distribution follow Plants of the World Online (Kew), YList (Yonekura & Kajita) and regional floras; CITES Species+ for trade status. Descriptions are provisional and are revised as specimens are verified.