Cyathea dealbata - Silver Treefern or Ponga (Subg. CYATHEA, sect. Cyathea)
IDENTIFYING FEATURES:
* white bloom on underside of fronds, extending down to base of stipe (but fading on older stipes) ... this bloom is absent on very small plants, but usually starts to appear on the tips of pinnules when fronds are around 30-50 cm long and increases with each new frond
* uniform, cup-shaped indusium, visible only after spore has shed & sori has disintegrated
* dark brown scales on crozier, especially abundant on stipe-base and crown, and persisting between stipe bases on upper section of trunk
* young plants often tending to be prostrate, but ultimately forming a straight thick upright trunk |
