Cyathea commersoniana Fée

Janssen, Thomas & Rakotondrainibe, France, 2006, A revision of the fern family Cyatheaceae in the Mascarene Islands, Adansonia (3) 28 (2), pp. 213-241 : 236

Cyathea commersoniana Fée

Mémoires sur les familles des fougères, cinquième Mémoire, Genera Filicum 352 (1850-1852). — Type: “Habitat in insula Mauritii”, Commerson 1773.

REMARKS

We were unable to trace the type material. According to Fée’s description, the species is likely to be close to or identical with Cyathea borbonica Desv. s.l. Kuhn (1868: 163) places Cyathea commersoniana in synonymy to Cyathea canaliculata var. latifolia Hook. citing Goudot s.n. ( Madagascar) and Commerson 1773 ( Mauritius) as only specimens. Without access to the original material we are not in a position to confirm this judgement.