Common name: straw treefern, scaly treefern, lacy treefern
Cyathea cooperi (F.Muell.) Domin APNI* 
Description: Trunk to 12 m high, to 15 cm diam., patterned with ovate scars where stipe bases have shed cleanly; stipes yellowish brown to brown, warty, the bases deciduous, scales of the stipe base of two kinds, pale and 2–5 cm long and 0.5–5 mm wide, and inconspicuous red-brown scales 0.5–1.5 cm long and to 0.5 mm wide.
Fronds to 5 m long; stipe to at least 50 cm, the warts brown and to 0.5 mm high; lamina 3-pinnate at the base, green above, paler below, ultimate segments toothed in upper half.
Sori bearing a ring of scales.
Distribution and occurrence: in gullies in warm coastal rainforest; north from Durras Mtn. Records of this species from Kurrajong in the Blue Mountains in 1880 and Belambi near Wollongong in 1870, both in natural settings, suggest Cyathea cooperi is of natural, if sparse, occurrence in the central and south coast regions. It may be expanding its range in these areas in response to disturbance from both natural and cultivated sources.
NSW subdivisions: NC, CC, SC
Other Australian states: Qld *W.A.
Text by Peter G. Wilson
Taxon concept: P.D. Bostock (1998)
APNI* Provides a link to the Australian Plant Name Index (hosted by the Australian National Botanic Gardens) for comprehensive bibliographic data
***The AVH map option provides a detailed interactive Australia wide distribution map drawn from collections held by all major Australian herbaria participating in the Australian Virtual Herbarium project.
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