Cyathea hornei
Encyclopedia
Cyathea hornei is a species of tree fern
. Its natural distribution covers eastern New Guinea
and the Louisiade Archipelago
to Fiji
, where it grows in wet submontane forest, stunted forest, mossy forest, and on ridges, at an altitude of 400-2000 m. The trunk of this plant is erect, 3-4 m tall and up to about 4 cm in diameter. Frond
s may be pinnate
or bipinnate and reach a length of 2 m. Basal scale
s cover the dark rachis
and stipe
of this species. These scales are glossy and either bicoloured (dark with a paler margin) or light brown and bullate. Sori
almost cover the lower segments of fertile pinnules. Indusia are absent.
Braggins and Large (2004) note that C. hornei is a variable species across its range. Individual populations may differ in terms of minor details of the division of the pinnae and smaller basal pinnae may be either present or absent altogether.
The specific epithet
hornei commemorates botanist John Horne
(1835-1905), who collected numerous plants on Fiji and islands of the Indian Ocean
.
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...
. Its natural distribution covers 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...
and the Louisiade Archipelago
Louisiade Archipelago
The Louisiade Archipelago is a string of ten larger volcanic islands frequently fringed by coral reefs, and 90 smaller coral islands located 200 km southeast of New Guinea, stretching over more than and spread over an ocean area of between the Solomon Sea to the north and the Coral Sea to...
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...
, where it grows in wet submontane forest, stunted forest, mossy forest, and on ridges, at an altitude of 400-2000 m. The trunk of this plant is erect, 3-4 m tall and up to about 4 cm in diameter. 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 pinnate
Pinnate
Pinnate is a term used to describe feather-like or multi-divided features arising from both sides of a common axis in plant or animal structures, and comes from the Latin word pinna meaning "feather", "wing", or "fin". A similar term is pectinate, which refers to a comb-like arrangement of parts...
or bipinnate and reach a length of 2 m. 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 cover the dark 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....
of this species. These scales are glossy and either bicoloured (dark with a paler margin) or light brown and bullate. 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....
almost cover the lower segments of fertile pinnules. Indusia are absent.
Braggins and Large (2004) note that C. hornei is a variable species across its range. Individual populations may differ in terms of minor details of the division of the pinnae and smaller basal pinnae may be either present or absent altogether.
The specific epithet
Epithet
An epithet or byname is a descriptive term accompanying or occurring in place of a name and having entered common usage. It has various shades of meaning when applied to seemingly real or fictitious people, divinities, objects, and binomial nomenclature. It is also a descriptive title...
hornei commemorates botanist John Horne
John Horne
John Horne was a Scottish geologist. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1900. He was a pupil of Ben Peach....
(1835-1905), who collected numerous plants on Fiji and islands of the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
.