Cyathea affinis is a variable species of tree fern

Cyatheales

The order Cyatheales is a taxonomic division of the fern subclass, Cyatheatae, which includes the tree ferns. No clear morphological features characterize all of the Cyatheales, but DNA sequence data indicates that the order is monophyletic. Some species in the Cyatheales have tree-like growth...

 native to Fiji

Fiji

Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...

, Samoa

Samoa

Samoa , officially the Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in...

, the Cook Islands

Cook Islands

The Cook Islands is a self-governing parliamentary democracy in the South Pacific Ocean in free association with New Zealand...

, Austral Islands

Austral Islands

The Austral Islands are the southernmost group of islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France in the South Pacific. Geographically, they consist of two separate archipelagos, namely in the northwest the Tubuai Islands consisting of the Îles Maria, Rimatara, Rurutu, Tubuai...

, Tahiti

Tahiti

Tahiti is the largest island in the Windward group of French Polynesia, located in the archipelago of the Society Islands in the southern Pacific Ocean. It is the economic, cultural and political centre of French Polynesia. The island was formed from volcanic activity and is high and mountainous...

, and the Marquesas Islands

Marquesas Islands

The Marquesas Islands enana and Te Fenua `Enata , both meaning "The Land of Men") are a group of volcanic islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France in the southern Pacific Ocean. The Marquesas are located at 9° 00S, 139° 30W...

. The trunk of this plant is erect and 2-6 m tall. Frond

Frond

The term frond refers to a large, divided leaf. In both common usage and botanical nomenclature, the leaves of ferns are referred to as fronds and some botanists restrict the term to this group...

s are bipinnate and 2-3 m in length. The rachis

Rachis

Rachis is a biological term for a main axis or "shaft".-In zoology:In vertebrates a rachis can refer to the series of articulated vertebrae, which encase the spinal cord. In this case the rachis usually form the supporting axis of the body and is then called the spine or vertebral column...

 and stipe

Stipe (botany)

In botany, a stipe is a stalk that supports some other structure. The precise meaning is different depending on which taxonomic group is being described....

 are pale to brown in colour, or flushed with red towards the pinnule rachis. The stipe is sparsely covered in narrow basal scale

Scale (zoology)

In most biological nomenclature, a scale is a small rigid plate that grows out of an animal's skin to provide protection. In lepidopteran species, scales are plates on the surface of the insect wing, and provide coloration...

s, which are pale to dark and have broad fragile edges. Characteristically of this species, the lowest one or two pairs of pinnae may be slightly reduced and occur towards the base of the stipe. Sori

Sorus

A sorus is a cluster of sporangia .In fungi and lichens, the sorus is surrounded by an external layer. In some red algae it may take the form of a depression into the thallus....

 are located near the pinnule midvein and are partially or fully covered by indusia, which open towards the pinnule margin.

Braggins and Large (2004) note that there is much variation between individual plants of C. affinis in terms of frond and scale details and Cyathea tahitensis, which is usually regarded as synonymous, may in fact represent a separate species. The closest relatives of C. affinis appear to be Cyathea plagiostegia and Cyathea solomonensis. This species differs from the former in its slightly larger size and larger indusia.

C. affinis is not to be confused with Cyathea affinis (W. J. Hooker & Baker, 1874), a synonym

Synonym

Synonyms are different words with almost identical or similar meanings. Words that are synonyms are said to be synonymous, and the state of being a synonym is called synonymy. The word comes from Ancient Greek syn and onoma . The words car and automobile are synonyms...

 of Cyathea medullaris

Cyathea medullaris

Cyathea medullaris, popularly known as the black tree fern, is a large tree fern up to 20 m tall. It is endemic to New Zealand. It is called mamaku, katātā, kōrau, or pītau in the Māori language.-Distribution:...

, nor Cyathea affinis (Brackenridge, 1854), a synonym of Cyathea propinqua

Cyathea propinqua

Cyathea propinqua is a species of tree fern native to Fiji and possibly Samoa, where it grows in wet forest. The trunk of this plant is erect and slender, growing to 10 m in height. Fronds may be bi- or tripinnate and 2-3 m long. Dull brown scales cover the dull, dark stipe of this species. The...

. Cyathea affinis (M. Martens & Galeotti, 1842) also shares its name with this taxon

Taxon

|thumb|270px|[[African elephants]] form a widely-accepted taxon, the [[genus]] LoxodontaA taxon is a group of organisms, which a taxonomist adjudges to be a unit. Usually a taxon is given a name and a rank, although neither is a requirement...

, but cannot be attributed to any species.

Young shoots of C. affinis are eaten in the Marquesas Islands.