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Cyathea: Tree fern habitats
Tree ferns are commonly found in areas of constant humidity that aren’t too hot
and not too cold. Their centres of diversity therefore are found in equatorial
mountain rain forests and on ocean islands without pronounced seasons. To the
north tree ferns are found as far as southern Japan, and to the south as far as
various subantarctic islets south of New Zealand.
The two most important families of tree ferns are the Cyatheaceae and the Dicksoniaceae,
which contain a total of some 500 to 700 species. It’s easy to tell the two apart: In the
Dicksoniaceae, the spore-producing structures are found on the margins of the fronds, and
the stalks of the fronds are covered in thin hairs. By contrast, the sporiferous structures
of the Cyatheaceae are spread over the lower surface of the frond, while the frond stalks
are covered with multicelled scales. The genus Cyathea, from which the family’s name
is derived, is by far the most diverse genus of all tree ferns. More than 400 species of
Cyathea have been described so far, though assigning them to particular species can be very
difficult.
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Cyathea: Tree fern habitats (MP3, 510 KB)
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