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Gymnosphaera andersonii, synonyms Alsophila andersonii and Cyathea andersonii, is a species of tree fern native to the eastern Himalayas of India, Bhutan, and Tibet, Myanmar, and south-central China, where it grows in moist valleys and montane forest at an elevation of 300–1200 m. The trunk is erect and 6–10 m tall. Fronds are bi- or tripinnate and 2–3 m long. The entire plant is relatively dark in appearance; the rachis is flushed with dark purple and the stipe is dark, almost to the point of being black. Dark, lanceolate scales with pale fringes are sparsely scattered along the length of the stipe. Sori occur near the midvein of fertile pinnules and lack indusia.
The specific epithet andersonii is thought to commemorate Thomas Anderson (1832-1870), a botanist and director of the Calcutta botanical garden.
Gymnosphaera annae · Gymnosphaera biformis · Gymnosphaera commutata · Gymnosphaera dimorpha · Gymnosphaera glabra · Gymnosphaera metteniana · Gymnosphaera acrostichoides · Gymnosphaera atropurpurea · Gymnosphaera baileyana · Gymnosphaera capensis · Gymnosphaera denticulata · Gymnosphaera gigantea
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Gymnosphaera andersonii by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.
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.
