Cyathea macgregorii
Encyclopedia
Cyathea macgregorii is a species of tree fern
Cyatheales
The order Cyatheales is a taxonomic division of the fern subclass, Cyatheatae, which includes the tree ferns. No clear morphological features characterize all of the Cyatheales, but DNA sequence data indicates that the order is monophyletic. Some species in the Cyatheales have tree-like growth...

 in the family Cyatheaceae
Cyatheaceae
The Cyatheaceae is the scaly tree fern family and includes the world's tallest tree ferns, which reach heights up to 20 m. They are also very ancient plants, appearing in the fossil record in the late Jurassic, though the modern genera likely appeared in the Tertiary. Cyatheaceae is the largest...

. Its trunk is approximately 3 meters tall and about 24 centimeters thick. It has narrow and tripinnate fronds which are about 1 meter long, occurring in clusters of approximately 60, and form a round crown. The stipe
Stipe (botany)
In botany, a stipe is a stalk that supports some other structure. The precise meaning is different depending on which taxonomic group is being described....

 is scaly and warty, scales being either smooth and shiny brown or small and pale. The sori are in groups of four to six in pinnule lobes. They are covered in brown indusia. It bears similarity to Cyathea imbricata
Cyathea imbricata
Cyathea imbricata is a species of tree fern endemic to Western New Guinea, where it grows in open forest at an altitude of 3240 m. The trunk of this plant is erect and approximately 2 m tall. Fronds may be bi- or tripinnate and are usually less than 1 m in length. The stipe is dark, spiny, and...

 and even greater similarity to Cyathea gleichenioides
Cyathea gleichenioides
Cyathea gleichenioides is a species of tree fern endemic to New Guinea, where it grows in open peaty grassland and on forest margins, often in groups, at an altitude of 2800-3700 m. The trunk of this plant is erect, up to 3 m tall and about 24 cm in diameter. The narrow fronds are tripinnate and...

. It is possible that these variations are only due to differences in habitat and they may be same species.

Distribution

Occurs in New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...

 peaty grasslands or forest edges from 3000 to 3700 meters. It has a tendency to form groups.

Name

Its name comes from William MacGregor
William MacGregor
Sir William MacGregor GCMG, CB was a Lieutenant-Governor of British New Guinea, Governor of Newfoundland and Governor of Queensland.-Early life:...

(1846-1919) who, as a plant collector, collected plants from New Guinea.
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