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Cyathea (From kyatheion a little cup)

(from kyatheion, a little cup; in reference to the appearance of the spores on the back of the fronds). ORD. Filices. Stove or greenhouse evergreen tree ferns. Fronds simple or pinnate, or decompoundly pinnate. Receptacle elevated, globose, or elongated; involucre globose, inferior, covering the whole sorus, afterwards breaking at the summit and forming a more or less persistent cup, even or regular at the margin. Sori on a vein, or in the axil of the forking of a vein. Stem often aculeated. For culture, see Ferns. C. arborea (tree).* sti. and rachis pale brown. fronds large, bipinnate; secondary pinnae 5in. to 8in. long, sessile, oblong-lanceolate, deeply pinnatifid or again pinnate; pinnules oblong, sub-falcate, serrated. West Indies, 1793. Unarmed, or copiously prickly. Stove. SYN. C. Grevilleana. C. canaliculata (channelled). fronds glabrous, bipinnate; primary pinnae 8in. to 18in. long, oblong, acuminate, bipinnate, and pinnatifid at the apex; pinnules sessile, 1in. to 1 1/4in. long, oblong, sub-acute, entire or serrated. sori copious, near the costa. Mauritius. Plant unarmed or indistinctly tuberculate. Stove.

C. Cunninghami (Cunningham's).* cau. 12ft. to 15ft. long. sti. and main rachises stramineous and asperous. fronds sub-coriaceous, flaccid, tripinnate; primary pinnae 1 1/2ft. to 2ft. long; secondary ones 3in. to 5in. long, oblong, acuminate, pinnatifid only at the apex; lobes or ultimate pinnules 4in. to 6in. long, linear, obtuse, innatifid; lobules entire. sori one to each lobe. New Zealand, 1860. Greenhouse.

C. dealbata (whitened).* fronds sub-coriaceous, bi-tripinnate; pinnae oblong, acuminate, pure white beneath, deeply pinnatifid or pinnate at the base; lobes oblong, acute, falcate, serrated. sori copious, sometimes confined to the lower half of the lobes. New Zealand. Unarmed or slightly asperous. Greenhouse.

C. Dregei (Drege's). fronds bipinnate; pinnules sessile, 2in. to 3in. long, glabrous, narrow-oblong, acuminate, deeply pinnatifid; lobes oblong-ovate, sub-falcate, obtuse, more or less serrated. Natal, &c., 1873. Unarmed or only rough, with small tubercles at the base of the stipes. Stove. C. Burkei differs from this species in having the lobes of the pinnules rather broader. C. excelsa (tall).* fronds bipinnate, coriaceo-membranaceous; primary pinnae 2ft. long, 6in. to 8in. wide; pinnules 3in. to 4in. long, 1/2in. wide, sessile, deeply pinnatifid, sub-pinnate at the base; lobes oblong, obliquely sub-acute, serrated, scaleless. sori in the fork near the costa. Mauritius, 1825. Unarmed. Greenhouse or stove.

C. Grevilleana (Greville's). Synonymous with C. arborea. C. Hookeri (Hooker's). cau. 1 1/2in. thick. sti. short. fronds coriaceo-membranaceous, 2ft. to 3ft. long, 4in. to 5in. wide, elongato-lanceolate, acuminate, pinnate, pinnatifid at the apex; pinnae sub-linear-lanceolate, acuminate, sub-sessile, coarsely dentato-pinnatifid. sori dorsal on the veins or in the lower axils. Ceylon, 1873. Stove. C. insignis (remarkable).* sti. scaly. fronds ample, coriaceous; primary pinnae 8ft. long; secondary ones 7in. to 8in. long, elongato-oblong, finely acuminated, sessile, pinnatifid nearly to the costa; lobes oblong-falcate, obtuse, quite entire, the margin slightly reflexed. sori copious. Jamaica. Stove. SYNS. C. princeps and Cibotium princeps.

C. integra (entire).* fronds firm-membranaceous, brownish-green, paler beneath; primary pinnae ample, 1 1/2ft. long; pinnules sessile or petiolate, 3in. to 5in. long, from a truncated base, oblong-acuminate, pinnatifid nearly two-thirds of the way to the costa, broad-oblong, sub-falcate, acute, serrated. sori in two series between the costule and margin. Amboyna and Philippine Islands. Unarmed. Stove. SYN. C. Petiolata. C. medullaris (Pithy).* cau. tall. fronds ample, bi-tripinnate, coriaceous; secondary pinnae 5in. to 6in. long, about 1in. broad, deeply pinnatifid or again pinnate; pinnules oblong or linear-oblong, obtuse, coarsely serrated in the sterile specimens, lobato-pinnatifid in the fertile ones, with the margins revolute. sori one to each lobule of the pinnule. New Zealand. Greenhouse. C. petiolata (petiolate). Synonymous with C. integra. C. princeps (princely). Synonymous with C. insignis. C. Serra (saw-toothed).* sti. thicker than a finger, muricated; scales dense, large, whitish. fronds bipinnate; pinnules lanceolate, deeply pinnatifid, 6in. to 8in. long, lanceolate, acuminate; lobes linear-oblong, acute, serrated, falcate. sori generally covering the whole of the lobes. West Indies, &c. Stove.

C. sinuata (sinuate). cau. slender, erect, 2ft. to 4ft. long. fronds simple, 2ft. to 3ft. long, 1in. to 2 1/2in. wide, elongato-lanceolate, sinuated at the margin, acuminate, tapering into a short stipe at the base. Ceylon, 1861. Stove. SYN. Schizocaena sinuata.