''Alsophila caudata'',

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

''Cyathea caudata'', is a species of

tree fern The tree ferns are arborescent (tree-like) ferns that grow with a trunk elevating the fronds above ground level, making them trees. Many extant tree ferns are members of the order Cyatheales, to which belong the families Cyatheaceae (scaly tree ...

native to the islands of

Luzon Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...

and

Mindanao Mindanao ( ) ( Jawi: مينداناو) is the second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the island is part of an island group of ...

in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, where it grows in montane forest. The trunk is erect and up to 4 m tall or more. Fronds are

bi- Numeral or number prefixes are prefixes derived from numerals or occasionally other numbers. In English and many other languages, they are used to coin numerous series of words. For example: * unicycle, bicycle, tricycle (1-cycle, 2-cycle, 3-cy ...

tripinnate Pinnation (also called pennation) is the arrangement of feather-like or multi-divided features arising from both sides of a common axis. Pinnation occurs in biological morphology, in crystals, such as some forms of ice or metal crystals, and in ...

and 1–2 m long. The stipe is warty and covered with dark, narrow, glossy

scale Scale or scales may refer to: Mathematics * Scale (descriptive set theory), an object defined on a set of points * Scale (ratio), the ratio of a linear dimension of a model to the corresponding dimension of the original * Scale factor, a number ...

s. Sori are borne near the midvein of fertile pinnules and are protected by firm, brown

indusia A sorus (pl. sori) is a cluster of sporangia (structures producing and containing spores) in ferns and fungi. A coenosorus (plural coenosori) is a compound sorus composed of multiple, fused sori. Etymology This New Latin word is from Ancient Gr ...

. ,

Plants of the World Online Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. It was launched in March 2017 with the ultimate aim being "to enable users to access information on all the world's known seed-bearing plants by ...

treated it as a synonym of ''Alsophila speciosa''.

Taxonomy

The species was first described, as ''Cyathea caudata'', by John Smith in 1841. , World Ferns accepted the species as ''Alsophila caudata'', whereas

treated it as a synonym of ''Alsophila speciosa''. In 2004, it was said that the closest relatives of ''A. caudata'' appear to be the smaller ''

Alsophila edanoi ''Alsophila edanoi'', synonym ''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 an ...

'' and ''

Alsophila heterochlamydea ''Alsophila heterochlamydea'', Synonym (taxonomy), synonym ''Cyathea heterochlamydea'', is a little-known species of Cyatheales, tree fern native to the islands of Luzon, Panay Island, Panay, Negros Island, Negros and Mindanao in the Philippines ...

''. Further study was needed to determine whether all three should be retained as separate species.

References

caudata Flora of Luzon Flora of Mindanao Plants described in 1841 {{alsophila-plant-stub