Spore Morphology of Ferns from China VII.Cyatheaceae

Spore morphology of 11 species of Cyatheaceae from China was examined by the means of scanning electron microscope (SEM).The spores are radially symmetrical and trilete.The aperture (laesura) arms are about 3/4 length of the radius of spores.The spores are often triangular in polar view,and hemispheric or flabellate in equatorial view.The length of polar axis is about 28-42 μm.The length of equatorial axis is about 32-52 μm.The ornamentations of spores are formed by perispore.They can be divided into 4 types,i.e.striate,verrucate,echinate-striate,short-echinulate.The classification of genera in Cyatheaceae was discussed in the present paper.