Cyathea cooperi (Hook. ex F. Muell.) Domin, Cyatheaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results:  High risk, score: 8 (Go to the risk assessment)

Other Latin names:  Sphaeropteris cooperi (Hook. ex F. Muell.) R. M.Tryon

Common name(s): [more details]

English: Australian tree fern, scaly tree fern, straw tree fern

French: fanjan Australien, fougère arborescente d'Australia, fougère Australienne

Habit:  fern

Description:  "Plants tall, slender, treelike, scaly.  Caudices slender, erect, 1-2 (-4+) m tall, 7-12 cm diameter.  Fronds to 4+ m long, leaving oval scars on caudices after falling.  Stipes with scattered tubercles, scales at base, soon deciduous, often leaving older stipes naked, of 2 types: larger, to 40 x 2 mm, white, papery, with small dark red marginal spines; and narrow, about 10 x 0.1 mm, dark red or brown with minutely spiny margins, interrupted white line of aerophores along both sides of stipes.  Blades 2-pinnate-pinnatifid to 3-pinnate at base, green or light green above, paler below; rachises with dark brown, obtuse tubercles.  Pinnae up to 65 x 26 cm.  Pinnules stalked, tips acuminate.  Ultimate segments deeply pinnatifid to 1-pinnate, segment lobes falcate, margins irregularly toothed or rarely deeply lobed.  Veins 1-forked.  Sori medial, round, 2-10 per segment, paraphyses abundant, long hairs.  Indusia lacking" (Palmer, 2002).

"Trunk up to 15 cm diameter and to 12 m or more tall, thickened at the base and patterned throughout with large oval, cleancut scars left by fallen fronds; stipe bases brown, tuberculate, covered by long, white and short, red-brown scales; fronds up to 6 m long, green above, paler beneath; sori orbicular, surrounded by circular indusia, each made up of scales"  (Jones and Clemesha, 1976).

Habitat/ecology:  "Tropical and subtropical rain forest to montane forest in open sites, near streams, and in mountain gullies from sea level to 1400 m or higher" (Large & Braggins, 2004). "Very easily grown and very hardy; heavy frosts may kill the fronds, but plants recover quickly"  (Jones and Clemesha, 1976; p. 56).  "Suited to shade, fast growing, displaces understory vegetation"  (Motooka et al., 2003).

Propagation:  Wind-dispersed spores.

Native range:  Australia (Queensland from Cooktown south and New South Wales as far south as the Illawarra district (Jones and Clemesha, 1976; p. 56).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
French Polynesia Society Islands	Tahiti Island	introduced	Meyer, Jean-Yves (2000) (p. 94) "Potential invader".
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawai‘i (Big) Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Palmer, Danial D. (2003) (p. 245)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kaua‘i Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Palmer, Danial D. (2003) (p. 245)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Lāna‘i Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Oppenheimer, Hank (2008) (pp. 26-27) Voucher cited: Oppenheimer & Perlman H90705 (BISH, PTBG)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Palmer, Danial D. (2003) (p. 245)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Palmer, Danial D. (2003) (p. 245)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia Australia (continental)	New South Wales	native	Australian Biological Resources Study (2011)
Australia Australia (continental)	Queensland	native	Australian Biological Resources Study (2011)
Singapore Singapore	Singapore (Republic of)	introduced cultivated	Chong, Kwek Yan/Tan, Hugh T. W./Corlett, Richard T. (2009) (p. 30) Cultivated only

Indian Ocean
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
La Réunion (France) La Réunion Island	La Réunion Island	introduced invasive	Lavergne, Christophe (2006) "Très envahissant"
La Réunion (France) La Réunion Island	La Réunion Island	introduced invasive	Baret, Stephane/Rouget, Mathieu/Richardson, David M./Lavergne, Christophe/Egoh, Benis/Dupont, Joel/Strasberg, Dominique (2006) (p. 758)
Mauritius Mautitius Islands (Mauritius and Rodrigues)	Mauritius Island	introduced invasive	Kueffer, C./Mauremootoo, J. (2004) (pp. 7, 8)

Comments:  "This fast-growing fern is a serious threat to Hawaiian ecosystems" (Palmer, 2002; pp. 243-244). Naturalized in Western Australia.

Control: 

Physical:  Replace with tree fern species that are not as aggressive.  "Initial control of the Australian tree fern has been mechanical, wherein the trees are felled and the apical meristem removed and chopped up or set above ground to avoid contact with the soil so it cannot resprout, although it is not certain that it is capable of resprouting, as can some other tree ferns.  At Kōke‘e, felled tree ferns apparently do not resprout (Galen Kawakami, DOFAW).  However, it is not certain if resprouting is possible in higher-rainfall sites"  (Motooka et al., 2003).

Chemical: "Australian tree fern was susceptible to sprays of concentrates of dicamba and of 2,4-D directly on the stem terminals.  Triclopyr was not as effective"  (Motooka et al., 2003).

"We found Habitat (aquatic-use imazapyr) to be quite effective on Australian tree fern (Sphaeropteris cooperi) with ULV application to the apical meristem"  Communication to the "Aliens" Listserver by James Leary, PhD, University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Additional information:
Excerpt from the book "Weeds of Hawaii‘s Pastures and Natural Areas; An Identification and Management Guide" (Motooka et al., 2003) (PDF format).
Information from the Global Invasive Species Database.

Additional online information about Cyathea cooperi is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Cyathea cooperi as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Cyathea cooperi may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Australian Biological Resources Study. 2011. Flora of Australia Online. Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra.

Baret, Stephane/Rouget, Mathieu/Richardson, David M./Lavergne, Christophe/Egoh, Benis/Dupont, Joel/Strasberg, Dominique. 2006. Current distribution and potential extent of the most invasive alien plant species on La Réunion (Indian Ocean, Mascarene islands). Austral Ecology (2006) 31, 747-758.

Chong, Kwek Yan/Tan, Hugh T. W./Corlett, Richard T. 2009. A checklist of the total vascular plant flora of Singapore: native, naturalised and cultivated species. Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research, National University of Singapore. 273 pp.

Comité français de l'Union Internationale pour la Conservation de la Nature en France. 2010. Les espéces envahissantes en outre-mer (online resource).

Délégation à l'Environnement/Délégation à Recherche. 2001. Les plantes envahissantes en Polynésie Française. French Polynesia. 2 p. folder.

Jones, D. L./Clemesha, S. C. 1976. Australian ferns and fern allies with notes on their cultivation. Reed, Sydney. 294 pp.

Kueffer, C./Mauremootoo, J. 2004. Case studies on the status of invasive woody plant species in the western Indian Ocean. 3. Mauritius (islands of Mauritius and Rodrigues). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Forestry Department, Forest Resources Division, Forest Resources Development Service, Working Paper FBS/4-3E. 35 pp.

Large, Mark F./Braggins, John E. 2004. Tree ferns. Timber Press, Portland.

Lavergne, Christophe. 2006. List des especes exotiques envahissantes a La Reunion. Unpublished manuscript (Excel file). .

Meyer, Jean-Yves. 2000. Preliminary review of the invasive plants in the Pacific islands (SPREP Member Countries). In: Sherley, G. (tech. ed.). Invasive species in the Pacific: A technical review and draft regional strategy. South Pacific Regional Environment Programme, Samoa. 190 pp.

Motooka, Philip/Castro, Luisa/Nelson, Duane/Nagai, Guy/Ching, Lincoln. 2003. Weeds of Hawaii‘s Pastures and Natural Areas; An Identification and Management Guide. College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, University of Hawaii at Manoa. 184 pp.

Oppenheimer, Hank. 2008. New Hawaiian plant records for 2007. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucias G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 2007. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers 100:22-38.

Palmer, Danial D. 2003. Hawai‘i's ferns and fern allies. Contribuition no. 2002-010 to the Hawaii Biological Survey. U. of Hawai‘i Press. 324 pp, map.

Staples, George W./Herbst, Derral R. 2005. A tropical garden flora: plants cultivated in the Hawaiian Islands and other tropical places. Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. 908 pp.

Staples, George W./Herbst, Derral/Imada, Clyde T. 2000. Survey of invasive or potentially invasive cultivated plants in Hawai‘i. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers No. 65. 35 pp.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2011. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.