(7) 黑桫欏
Gymnosphaera podophylla (Hook.) Copel.
桫欏科 (Cyatheaceae)
英文名 (English name): Black Tree fern, Tree-fern

Status in China: Vulnerable (VU). Wild plant under State protection (category II).

Description: Tree-ferns. Trunk quite short or sometimes 1-3 m tall. Leaves tufted; stipes chestnut brown to dark reddish brown, with linear-lanceolate brown scales at base; lamina 2-3 m long, bipinnate except the pinnatifid apex; pinnae numerous, alternate, stipitate, oblong-lanceolate, to 60 cm long; pinnules about 20 pairs, alternate linear-lanceolate, usually 10-15 cm long and 1.5-2.5 cm wide, apex caudate-acuminate, truncate at base, short-stipitate, margin sparsely serrate or undulate-crenate; veins pinnate, veinlets 3-4 pairs in a group. Sori hemispheroid, in 2-3 series on each side along the costules, without indusium.

Distribution: Hong Kong Island, Shing Mun and Kowloon Peak (Fei Ngo Shan). Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan, Zhejiang, Fujian, Taiwan; Indochina.

Habitat and Ecology: Thick forests of valleys or by streamsides, alt. 300-700m.

It is a primitive tree-fern of value in scientific research, and also can be used as an ornamental plant for growing in sheltered places. This species is protected by the Forestry Regulations (Cap. 96 sub. leg.) and the Protection of Endangered Species of Animals and Plants Ordinance (Cap. 586).

References:
夏群，1989: 中國桫欏科植物的分類。植物分類學報27(1):11。
Edie, H. H., 1977: Ferns of Hong Kong, 85. Hong Kong Univ. Press, Hong Kong.
So, M.L., 1994: Hong Kong Ferns, 46. The Urban Council, Hong Kong.