''Alsophila glaucifolia'',

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 glauca'', 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 ...

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

Réunion Réunion (; french: La Réunion, ; previously ''Île Bourbon''; rcf, label= Reunionese Creole, La Rényon) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas department and region of France. It is located approximately east of the island ...

. Little is known about this species.

Habitat and related species

''A. glaucifolia'' grows at higher altitudes () and it is one of three species of

that are indigenous to

island. * '' Alsophila celsa'' (syn. ''Cyathea excelsa'') which also occurs in

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...

, grows at slightly lower altitudes (200-1700m). Like ''A. glaucifolia'', its leaves are

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 ...

, but the new fronds of ''A. celsa'' are scaleless; those of ''A. glaucifolia'' have red-brown scales. * '' Alsophila borbonica'' (syn. ''Cyathea borbonica'') is the only species with

bipinnate The following is a list of terms which are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (a single leaf blade or lamina) or compound (with several leaflets). The edge of the leaf may be regular o ...

fronds.A revision of the fern family ''Cyatheaceae'' in the Mascarene Islands (2006)
/ref> Image:Cyathea glauca fronds.jpg, The fronds are

(branching to three levels). Image:Cyathea glauca.JPG, Growing under '' Acacia heterophylla'' in the forest of Bélouve,

Image:Image-Cyathea glauca insertion of fronds.JPG, Detail of trunk and insertion of fronds. New growth is covered in red-brown scales. This serves to distinguish the species from the alien, non-indigenous ''

Sphaeropteris cooperi ''Sphaeropteris cooperi'', synonym ''Cyathea cooperi'', also known as lacy tree fern, scaly tree fern, or Cooper's tree fern, is a tree fern native to Australia, in New South Wales and Queensland. Description ''Sphaeropteris cooperi'' is a me ...

'' (syn. ''Cyathea cooperi''), which has red and white scales on its new growth. Image:Funchal, Monte - Cyathea cooperi (Australischer Baumfarn) IMG 1893.JPG, The alien ''

'' can be distinguished from ''A. glaucifolia'' by the red and white scales on its new fronds.

References

External links

glaucifolia Ferns of Asia Endemic flora of Réunion {{Alsophila-plant-stub