Cibotium

{{short description|Genus of plants}}

{{automatic taxobox

| image = Starr_040713-0079_Cibotium_menziesii.jpg

| image_caption = Hāpu{{okina}}u {{okina}}i{{okina}}i (Cibotium menziesii)

| parent_authority = Korall

| taxon = Cibotium

| authority = Kaulf.

| type_species = Cibotium chamissoi

| type_species_authority = Kaulfuss

| subdivision_ranks = Species

| subdivision = See text

| synonyms=

  • Hiatea Menzies ex Hooker
  • Pinonia Gaudichaud-Beaupré

}}

Cibotium (from Greek {{lang|grc|{{linktext|κιβώτιον}}}}, kibṓtion, "little chest" or "box"), also known as manfern,{{cite web |url=https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=CIBOT |title = USDA Plants Database}} is a genus of 11 species of tropical tree ferns. It is the only genus in family Cibotiaceae in the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I). Alternatively, the family may be treated as the subfamily Cibotioideae of a very broadly defined family Cyatheaceae, the family placement used for the genus in Plants of the World Online {{As of|2019|November|lc=yes}}.

Species

{{As of|2023|January}}, Plants of the World Online accepted the following species and hybrids:

class="wikitable"
ImageScientific nameDistribution
Cibotium arachnoideum (C.Chr.) HolttumBorneo, Sumatra.
120pxCibotium barometz (L.) J.Sm.Hawaii (Oahu), Southeast Asia from China to the Malay Peninsula.
120pxCibotium chamissoi Kaulf.Hawaii (Oahu).
120pxCibotium cumingii KunzeBorneo to Philippines.
120pxCibotium glaucum (Sm.) Hook. & Arn.Hawaii.
Cibotium × helenae D.D.Palmer (C. chamissoi × C. menziesii)Hawaii (Oahu).
120pxCibotium menziesii Hook.Hawaii.
Cibotium nealiae Degen.Hawaii (Kauai).
120pxCibotium regale Verschaff. ex RegelMexico (Veracruz, Puebla, Chiapas), Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua.
120pxCibotium schiedei Schltdl. & Cham.Mexico (Veracruz).
Cibotium sumatranum ChristSumatra.
120pxCibotium taiwanense C.M.KuoTaiwan.

Some extinct species have also been placed in this genus:{{Cite journal |last=Barrington |first=David S. |date=1983 |title=Cibotium oregonense: An Eocene Tree-Fern Stem and Petioles with Internal Structure |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2443281 |journal=American Journal of Botany |volume=70 |issue=8 |pages=1118–1124 |doi=10.2307/2443281 |issn=0002-9122|url-access=subscription }}

Phylogeny

class="wikitable"
colspan=1 | Phylogeny of Cibotium{{cite journal |last1=Nitta |first1=Joel H. |last2=Schuettpelz |first2=Eric |last3=Ramírez-Barahona |first3=Santiago |last4=Iwasaki |first4=Wataru |display-authors=et al. |year=2022 |title=An Open and Continuously Updated Fern Tree of Life |journal=Frontiers in Plant Science |volume=13 |issue= |page= 909768| doi=10.3389/fpls.2022.909768 |pmid= 36092417|pmc= 9449725|bibcode= |doi-access=free}}{{cite web |last1= |first1= |display-authors=et al. |year=2024 |title=Tree viewer: interactive visualization of FTOL |url=https://fernphy.github.io/viewer.html |version=FTOL v1.7.0 (GenBank release 261) |access-date=1 May 2025}}
style="vertical-align:top|

{{Clade | style=font-size:90%;line-height:80%

|label1=Cibotium

|1={{clade

|label1=(Microcibotium)

|1={{clade

|1=C. arachnoideum (Christensen) Holttum

|2={{clade

|1=C. cumingii Kunze

|2={{clade

|1=C. barometz (von Linné) Smith (Scythian Lamb, Golden Chicken Fern)

|2=C. sino-burmaense Zhang & Liang

}}

}}

}}

|label2=(Cibotium)

|2={{clade

|1={{clade

|1=C. regale Linden ex Smith (Royal cibotium)

|2=C. schiedei von Schlechtendal & von Chamisso (Mexican tree fern)

}}

|2={{clade

|1=C. nealiae O.Deg.

|2={{clade

|1=C. chamissoi Kaulfuss (Man fern)

|2={{clade

|1=C. glaucum (Sm.) Hooker & Arnott (Hawaiian tree fern)

|2=C. menziesii Hooker

}}

}}

}}

}}

}}

}}

Distribution

Species of the genus are distributed fairly narrowly in Hawai{{okina}}i (four species, plus a hybrid, collectively known as hāpu{{okina}}u), Southeast Asia (five species), and the cloud forests of Central America and Mexico (two species). The natural habitat of Cibotium is among the dripping trees and stream gullies of the rainforests on Hawai{{okina}}i's windward volcanic slopes (Olaa Forest).

The fossil record indicates that the genus was once a part of the boreotropical flora found in Europe, eastern North America, and western Asia. Fossilized Cibotium oregonense was found near Medford, Oregon, and fossilized Cibotium iwatense was found in Iwate, Japan.Barrington, D. (1993). Ecological and Historical Factors in Fern Biogeography. Journal of Biogeography, 20(3), 275-279. doi:10.2307/2845635

No publicly accessible Cibotium collections are growing outdoors in the United Kingdom, but two glasshouse collections are kept at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and the RBG Edinburgh in Scotland. Specimens of Cibotium regale in the Royal Greenhouses of Laeken are visible to the public when the glasshouses open in May.

Uses

Cibotium glaucum, from Hawai{{okina}}i, is the most frequently encountered Cibotium species in the horticultural trade, along with its sibling species Cibotium chamissoi and the large-growing Cibotium menziesii. They are sometimes seen in California garden designs.

Cibotium barometz is best known for its role in ancient medicine. In traditional Chinese medicine, it is used as an anti-inflammatory and an anodyne; its rhizome hairs are used in Malaysia and China as a styptic for wounds.{{cite book |first=T. K. |last=Lim | title=Edible Medicinal and Non-Medicinal Plants |volume=10, Modified Stems, Roots, Bulbs |publisher=Springer |year=2016 |isbn=9789401772754 |chapter=Cibotiaceae |page=88}} It is still exported from Malaysia for this purpose.{{cite book |first=Jeyamalar |last=Kathirithamby-Wells |title=Nature and Nation: Forests and Development in Peninsular Malaysia |publisher=University of Hawai'i Press |location=Honolulu |year=2005 |isbn=0824828631 |page=340}} Hair-covered pieces of the rhizome, with bud stalks imitating legs, were used to lend credence to the medieval legend of the Vegetable Lamb of Tartary, a half-sheep, half-plant hybrid.{{cite book |last1=Large|first1=Mark F.|last2=Braggins|first2=John E. |author-link2=John E. Braggins|title=Tree Ferns |publisher=Timber Press |year=2004 |location=Portland, Oregon |page=[https://archive.org/details/treeferns00mark/page/n363 360] |isbn=9780881926309 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/treeferns00mark }}

Historically, women in Hawai'i have used the furry part of the Cibotium as a tampon.[http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2252/who-invented-tampons Who invented tampons?] June 6, 2006 The Straight Dope

Threats

Pressure on Hawaiian Cibotium habitats comes from development encroaching on the forested areas, especially the more accessible, lower-lying areas which are commercially attractive for land clearance. A less obvious threat comes from an invasive introduced tree fern species: Cyathea cooperi (the most popular garden tree fern in the United States), which has escaped from the islands' suburban gardens and now outcompetes the endemic flora. Wind-blown spores from this rapidly growing Australian import can migrate many miles into pristine Cibotium forests. This is a fairly recent phenomenon, but one which may eventually have grave consequences for the tree fern ecosystem in Hawai{{okina}}i.{{Citation needed|date=October 2018}}

References

{{Reflist|refs=

{{Cite journal |last1=Christenhusz |first1=Maarten J.M. |last2=Chase |first2=Mark W. |date=2014 |title=Trends and concepts in fern classification |journal=Annals of Botany |volume=113 |issue=9 |pages=571–594 |doi=10.1093/aob/mct299 |pmid=24532607 |pmc=3936591 |name-list-style=amp}}

{{Cite web |title=Cibotium Kaulf |work=Plants of the World Online |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:17376040-1 |accessdate=2019-11-24 }}

{{Cite journal |author=PPG I |year=2016 |title=A community-derived classification for extant lycophytes and ferns |journal=Journal of Systematics and Evolution |volume=54 |issue=6 |pages=563–603 |doi=10.1111/jse.12229|s2cid=39980610 |doi-access=free }}

}}

  • Smith, A.R., K.M. Pryer, E. Schuettpelz, P. Korall, H. Schneider & P.G. Wolf 2006. {{cite web|url=http://www.pryerlab.net/publication/fichier749.pdf |title=A classification for extant ferns. |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080226232147/http://www.pryerlab.net/publication/fichier749.pdf |archivedate=2008-02-26 }} {{small|(420 KiB)}} Taxonomy 55(3): 705–731.