Cheilanthes, commonly known as lip ferns, is a genus of about 180 species of rock-dwelling ferns with a cosmopolitan distribution in warm, dry, rocky regions, often growing in small crevices high up on cliffs. Most are small, sturdy and evergreen. The leaves, often densely covered in trichomes, spring directly from the rootstocks. Many of them are desert ferns, curling up during dry times and reviving with the coming of moisture. At the ends of veins sporangia, or spore-bearing structures, are protected by leaf margins, which curl over them.
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.
Cyathea is a genus of tree ferns, the type genus of the fern order Cyatheales.
Sphaeropteris medullaris, synonym Cyathea medullaris, commonly known as mamaku or black tree fern, is a large tree fern up to 20 m tall. It is distributed across the south-west Pacific from Fiji to Pitcairn Island. Its other Māori names include katātā, kōrau, or pītau.
Sphaeropteris excelsa, synonym Cyathea brownii, commonly known as the Norfolk tree fern or smooth tree fern, is probably the largest fern species in the world. It is endemic to Norfolk Island, in the Pacific Ocean near Australia and New Zealand. It is named after the botanist Robert Brown (1773-1858).
Sphaeropteris is a genus of tree fern in the family Cyatheaceae. It has been treated as a subgenus within the genus Cyathea, but is accepted in the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016.
Sphaeropteris elmeri, synonym Cyathea elmeri, is a species of tree fern native to the Philippines, Talaud Islands, and northern Sulawesi, where it grows in forest at an altitude of 500–1400 m. The trunk of this plant is erect and 5–10 m tall. Fronds may be bi- or tripinnate and up to 2 m or more in length. The lower surface of the rachis is distinctively pale and warty. The stipe is covered with scales and has warts towards the base. The scales are large, tapering, thin, and medium brown in colouration. Sori are borne near the fertile pinnule midvein. Indusia are absent.
Sphaeropteris propinqua, synonym Cyathea propinqua, is a species of tree fern native to Fiji and possibly Samoa, where it grows in wet forest. The trunk of this plant is erect and slender, growing to 10 m in height. Fronds may be bi- or tripinnate and 2–3 m long. Dull brown scales cover the dull, dark stipe of this species. The scales are minute along most of its length, becoming thick and fleshy towards the base. Sori are borne halfway between the pinnule midvein and the edge of the lobe. Indusia are present.
Alsophila crassicaula, synonym Cyathea ledermannii, is a species of tree fern native to Papua New Guinea and Bougainville Province in the Solomon Islands, where it is common in submontane rain forest at an altitude of 1000–3000 m. The trunk of this plant is erect and grows to about 3 m in height. Fronds may be bi- or tripinnate and up to 2 m in length. The rachis is purplish brown in colouration and usually bears basal scales. These scales range from pale, to brown, to bicoloured. Sori are borne on each side of the pinnule midvein. They are protected by firm indusia.
Alsophila is a genus of tree ferns in the family Cyatheaceae. It has also been considered to be a section in the subgenus Cyathea of the genus Cyathea.
Alsophila glaucifolia, synonym Cyathea glauca, is a species of tree fern endemic to Réunion. Little is known about this species.
Thelypteris is a genus of ferns in the subfamily Thelypteridoideae, family Thelypteridaceae, order Polypodiales. Two radically different circumscriptions of the genus are in use as of January 2020. In the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016, the genus is a very small one with about two species. In other approaches, the genus is the only one in the subfamily Thelypteridoideae, and so includes between 875 and 1083 species.
Alsophila borbonica, synonym Cyathea borbonica, is a tree fern endemic to Mauritius and Réunion. There are several natural forms and varieties.
Sphaeropteris robusta, synonym Cyathea robusta, is a fern in the family Cyatheaceae. The specific epithet alludes to its robust habit.
Sphaeropteris crinita, synonyms Alsophila crinita and Cyathea crinita, is a species of tree fern native to India and Sri Lanka. It is considered to be endangered.
Sphaeropteris intermedia, synonym Cyathea intermedia, is a species of tree fern endemic to the east coast of New Caledonia. S. intermedia is the world's largest extant species of fern.
Sphaeropteris ledermannii is a species of fern in the family Cyatheaceae, native to New Guinea. It was first described by Guido Brause in 1920 as Hemitelia ledermannii, and transferred to Sphaeropteris by Rolla Tryon in 1970.
Sphaeropteris lunulata is a species of tree fern in the family Cyatheaceae, native from Sulawesi in Malesia and the Bismarck Archipelago in Papuasia to the western Pacific. It was first described by Georg Forster in 1786 as Polypodium lunulatum and transferred to Sphaeropteris by Rolla Tryon in 1970.
Sphaeropteris quindiuensis, is a species of tree fern in the family Cyatheaceae. It is native to Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia.
Sphaeropteris feani is a species of tree fern native to the Marquesas Islands and Solomon Islands in the South Pacific.
