Cyathea crassa

Cyathea crassa
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Pteridophyta
Class:	Pteridopsida
Order:	Cyatheales
Family:	Cyatheaceae
Genus:	Cyathea
Subgenus:	Cyathea
Section:	Alsophila
Species:	C. crassa
Binomial name
Cyathea crassa Maxon, 1909
Synonyms
Nephelea crassa (Maxon) Tryon, 1970 Alsophila jimeneziana Conant, 1983

Cyathea crassa is a species of tree fern endemic to the Santo Domingo area in the Dominican Republic. Little is known about this rare tree fern.

C. crassa is part of the Cyathea woodwardioides complex from the Greater Antilles together with five other species: Cyathea fulgens, Cyathea grevilleana, Cyathea portoricensis, and Cyathea tussacii.

This species is not conspecific with Alsophila crassa (Karsten, 1869), which is based on material collected from wet, cold, montane forest at Mérida by Franz Engel in 1859. There are no modern collections that match Karsten's description and so the identity of this species remains unclear.

The naming of C. crassa represents some taxonomic problems. If the genus Alsophila is recognised, the specific epithet crassa is unavailable for this tree fern, having been used by Karsten. To avoid confusion, David Conant renamed it Alsophila jimeneziana in 1983.

References

• Braggins, John E. & Large, Mark F. 2004. Tree Ferns. Timber Press, Inc., p. 117. ISBN 0-88192-630-2
• The International Plant Names Index: Cyathea crassa