Sphaeropteris felina

Cyatheaceae

Sphaeropteris felina (Roxb.) Pic.Serm.

Link to Australian Plant Name Index for publication details and synonyms: https://id.biodiversity.org.au/name/apni/119202

Rhizome erect to 8 m tall, to c. 20 cm diam. Stipe to 1 m long; basal scales similar in structure to those of C. cooperi but usually paler. Lamina c. 3 m long; largest pinnae to 75 cm long; basal pinnae only slightly reduced; pinnules to 12 cm long, to c. 2.5 cm wide, lobed almost to costae, with 1 or 2 basal lobes often free; lobes strongly crenate; veins to 15 pairs; costal scales pale, small, with short marginal hairs; costular scales whitish, bullate; upper surface of costules and veins with scattered thick whitish hairs; similar hairs on margins of pinnule lobes. Sori near costules, exindusiate, with narrow ciliate scales around receptacle base; paraphyses slender, slightly longer than sporangia. 

Occurs in Cape York Peninsula QLD between Lockerbie Scrub and the McIlwraith Range. Also in Papua New Guinea.

Terrestrial in rainforest, especially feather-palm and fan-palm swamp forest at low altitudes.

This is a rare and localised tree-fern.

Alsophila exilis is distinguished by its shorter stipe (c. 20 cm long cf. to 1 m in Sphaeropteris felina) and distinctly reduced basal pinnae ( cf. only slightly reduced in Sphaeropteris felina).