Cyathea heterochlamydea is a little-known 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 the islands of Luzon

Luzon

Luzon is the largest island in the Philippines. It is located in the northernmost region of the archipelago, and is also the name for one of the three primary island groups in the country centered on the Island of Luzon...

, Panay

Panay Island

Panay is an island in the Philippines located in the western part of the Visayas. Politically, it is divided into five provinces: Aklan, Antique, Capiz, and Iloilo, all in the Western Visayas Region. It is located southeast of the island of Mindoro and northwest of Negros, separated by the...

, Negros and Mindanao

Mindanao

Mindanao is the second largest and easternmost island in the Philippines. It is also the name of one of the three island groups in the country, which consists of the island of Mindanao and smaller surrounding islands. The other two are Luzon and the Visayas. The island of Mindanao is called The...

 in the Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

, where it grows in montane forest. The trunk of this plant is erect and usually up to 4 m tall or more. 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 1-2 m in length. 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 warty and/or bears short spines and 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. These scales are dark, glossy and have a narrow pale margin. 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 borne near the fertile pinnule midvein and are protected by firm, brown indusia.

Braggins and Large (2004) note that C. heterochlamydea is very similar to Cyathea edanoi

Cyathea edanoi

Cyathea edanoi is a species of tree fern endemic to Luzon in the Philippines, where it grows in montane forest at an altitude of about 1300 m. The trunk is erect and 1-2 m tall. Fronds are bi- or tripinnate and approximately 1 m long. The stipe is covered in dark, glossy scales that have narrow,...

, which is smaller in size, and may also be related to Cyathea caudata

Cyathea caudata

Cyathea caudata is a species of tree fern native to the islands of Luzon and Mindanao in the Philippines, where it grows in montane forest. The trunk is erect and up to 4 m tall or more. Fronds are bi- or tripinnate and 1-2 m long. The stipe is warty and covered with dark, narrow, glossy scales...

.