Cyathea foersteri is a 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 eastern New Guinea

New Guinea

New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...

, where it grows in scrub in forest margins and mossy forest at an altitude of 1600-2800 m. The trunk is erect and up to 10 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 may be bi- or tripinnate and 2-2.5 m long. Usually around nine or ten live fronds are present in the crown at once. The 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....

 is covered in pale 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. 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....

 occur near the fertile pinnule midvein and are protected by firm, thin indusia.

C. foersteri appears to be closely related to Cyathea archboldii

Cyathea archboldii

Cyathea archboldii is a species of tree fern native to New Guinea and Bougainville, where it is common in submontane rain forest at an altitude of 1000-3000 m. The trunk is erect and up to about 3 m tall. Fronds are bipinnate and 2-3 m long. The rachis may be purplish and has short spines and scales...

. It differs from that species in its frond shape, with the lower pinnae being reduced, and in its short stipes. Cyathea nigrolineata

Cyathea nigrolineata

Cyathea nigrolineata is a species of tree fern in the family Cyatheaceae. Its trunk is approximately 10 meters tall. It has fronds that are 2 to 3 meters in length and bi- or tripinnate. The fronds are placed in groups of 5 to 8 per whorl. The stipe is scaly. It occurs in Eastern New Guinea forests...

is thought to be even more similar and further study is needed to determine whether these two taxa

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...

represent the same species or not.