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Alsophila imbricata

Alsophila imbricata is a tree fern from the mountains of Western New Guinea, growing in open forest up to about 3240 m, with a trunk around 2 m tall. It is a cool, wet-climate plant and is rarely grown outside its native range.

Family
Cyatheaceae (Cyathe family)
Grows as
Tree, Fern
Light
Part shade
Water
Keep the soil and trunk consistently moist, and mist the fronds in dry air.
Soil
Rich, humus-heavy, free-draining mix kept moist.
Temperature
10–20 °C; protect from heat above 25 °C and from frost.
How easy
Hard
Native range
New Guinea
Climate
wet tropical

About

Alsophila imbricata, synonym Cyathea imbricata, is a species of tree fern endemic to Western New Guinea, where it grows in open forest at an altitude of 3240 m. The trunk of this plant is erect and approximately 2 m tall. Fronds may be bi- or tripinnate and are usually less than 1 m in length. The stipe is dark, spiny, and covered with caducous scales. These scales are glossy brown in colouration and have a paler margin and fragile edges. Sori are borne in groups of one to four per pinnule lobe. They are protected by firm indusia.

A. imbricata is similar to Alsophila macgregorii and very similar to Alsophila gleichenioides. It differs from the latter only in details of frond morphology. Large and Braggins (2004) note that "it is possible these variations are ecological and that the species should be united".

Other Alsophila plants

Alsophila abbottii · Alsophila acanthophora · Alsophila acuminata · Alsophila alderwereltii · Alsophila alleniae · Alsophila alpina · Alsophila amboinensis · Alsophila aneitensis · Alsophila apiculata · Alsophila apoensis · Rough tree fern · Alsophila balanocarpa

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Alsophila imbricata by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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