Cyathea punctifera H. Christ Graceful tree fern, to 7 (15) m tall; trunk to 20 (40) cm diam; trunk and petioles with a few spines to 1 cm long, the spines embedded in a dense layer of irregularly serrate scales and adventitious roots. Leaves 2-pinnate-pinnatifid, to ca 3 m long and 1.5 m or more wide; petiole and rachis atropurpureous, with short, dense, almost granular scales (easily scraped off) especially on underside, the petiole to 50 cm long; pinnular rachis and costules densely pubescent with purplish ascending trichomes; pinnae to ca 1 m long and 30 cm wide; leaflets pinnatifid to near midrib, to 11.5 (15) cm long and to 2.5 (3.5) cm wide, tapered to a long, bluntly acuminate apex, the lobes 2-3 mm wide, somewhat falcate, entire to minutely crenate; veins mostly 1-forked near base, the major veins sparsely pubescent beneath with purplish, mostly stellate scales. Sori round, usually 4-6, clustered in proximal half of lobes; indusium globose to urn-shaped, dark brown, completely enclosing sporangia, breaking into irregular segments at maturity, deciduous to persistent, scarious. Croat 6529. Rare on the island, restricted to deep ravines. Seasonal behavior undetermined. Seen fertile in April, August, and September.