Alsophila celebica

Description

Cyathea celebica is a tree fern growing to 6m tall. The stalk of the fronds are up to 1m long, blackish-purple in colour and strongly spiny at the base. The shiny, black spines are 3-6mm long. There are pale brown to whitish scales at the base of the stalk, measuring 40mm long by 1mm wide. The remainder of the stalk is covered with minute, bristly, interlacing scales. The branch-like leaves are up to 3m long and the individual leaflets up to 70cm long. The leaflets are divided into smaller leaflets, each up to 13cm long and 2cm wide. These smaller leaflets consist of lobed or serrated segments attached to a mid-vein. On the underside of the leaflets, towards the mid-vein, are spore cases covered by an overlapping fringe of scales.