CYATHEA PLANADAE, A REMARKABLE NEW CREEPING TREE FERN FROM COLOMBIA, SOUTH-AMERICA

A new species within the Cyathaceae is described from the mid-elevatio n cloud forests of the Andes in southwestern Colombia. Cyathea planada e N.C. Arens & A.R. Smith has fragile, ephemeral, sphaeropteroid indus ia surrounding inframedial to medial sori, which are typical of many C yathea; however it is unusual in possessing a creeping stem. Decumbent stems (above-ground rhizomes) bearing adventitious roots and buds giv e rise to narrow, glabrous upright shoots upon which three or four twi ce-pinnate-pinnatified fronds are typically displayed. Cyathea planada e is very common and patchily distributed in the understory of primary forest habitats in montane forests. The species is also noteworthy fo r an apparent association with an ant species, which appears to feed f rom pads of tissue at the base of the pinnae.