Cyathea tomentosissima?
Cyathea tomentosissima - Subg. SPHAEROPTERIS, Sect. Sphaeropteris, Subsect. Sphaeropteris

IDENTIFYING FEATURES:
*  fairly small treefern, small fronds, my plant (above) producing fertile fronds under ~70 cm long
*  crown, croziers and underside of midribs densely covered with reddish-brown scales, larger pale scales also on crown
*  pinnae and pinnules greatly narrowed towards their bases
*  sori without indusia, margins of fertile pinnules prominently reflexed
*  sometimes sold commercially as "Highland Lace"
I first saw this species some years ago growing at a friend's wholesale nursery on the north coast of NSW. He had grown large numbers of plants from spore of a single specimen that had mysteriously appeared in one of his trays of sporelings. He did not want to release the plant commercially without a name, and gave me a plant in the hope that I might have some success at identifying it. On checking all of my sources of reference material, the closest I could find was the following description of Cyathea tomentosissima in 'FLORA MALESIANA". I sent a copy to my friend, and this species has been thus labelled in the trade ever since.

Cyathea tomentosissima COPEL. Un. Cal. Publ. Bot. 18 (1942) 219; Philip. J. Sc. 77 (1948)123, p. 15.

Trunk to 2˝ m, 16 cm diam, bearing up to 40 fronds 60-105 cm long. Stipe 20-30 cm, when dry light red-brown and warty after fall of scales, base densely covered with shining firm twisted brown scales to 50 by 2 mm, edges bearing irregular concolorous short setae; above the base more or less densely covered with small scales as rachis. Rachis covered beneath with a close felt of very small pale scales which have flexuous marginal hairs, also with larger scales: (a) elongate flat pale scales to 1 mm wide having many brown setae near apices and often pale hairs near bases, (b) very narrow pale thin flexuous scales with slender marginal hairs; all scales more or less caducous with age. Longest pinnae 10-16 cm. Longest pinnules 30 by 8 mm, lobed almost or quite to costa; costules 2 mm apart, veins 6-7 pairs; lamina-segments very rigid, their edges much reflexed and inrolled, entire or slightly crenate. Sori filling cavity of lower surface of a segment; no indusium. Scales and hairs: lower surface of pinna-rachis and costae as main rachis but the flat scales smaller or lacking; on costules small brown bullate scales with long crisped marginal hairs; hairs on upper surface of costae pale, with a few on costules.
Type specimen: BRASS 9116, Lake Habbema, West Central New Guinea (A; dupl. At MICH, BO, L, UC).
Distr. Malaysia: New Guinea
Ecol. At 3225 m, ‘along streams of open grassland, in drier shrubberies, never in forest’ (BRASS)
Note. This appears to be distinct in its narrow stipe-scales and small size of frond; also in the close felt of small woolly scales on the lower surfaces of all rachises, though this is more or less caducous. In other characters not clearly distinguishable from C. atrox var. inermis.