Cystodium sorbifolium

Cystodium is a fern in its own family, Cystodiaceae.^[2] It contains a single species: Cystodium sorbifolium (Sm.) J.Sm. 1841.^[3] Because it looks like a small tree fern, it had previously been placed in the tree fern family Dicksoniaceae. Subsequent analysis had moved it to the Lindsaeaceae,^[3] but the most recent phylogenetic studies have placed it in its own separate family, Cystodiaceae, with a sister relationship to the current Lindsaeaceae.^[4] A fossil species of the genus Cystodium sorbifolioides is known from the Cenomanian aged Burmese amber in Myanmar.^[5]

Cystodium sorbifolium
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Division:	Polypodiophyta
Class:	Polypodiopsida
Order:	Polypodiales
Suborder:	Lindsaeineae
Family:	Cystodiaceae J.R.Croft 1986
Genus:	Cystodium J.Sm. 1841
Species:	C. sorbifolium
Binomial name
Cystodium sorbifolium (Sm.) J.Sm.
Synonyms
Cystodiopteris Rauschert 1982[1]

Distribution

Cystodium is distributed through lowland rainforests from Borneo to New Guinea and nearby islands, as well as the Solomon Islands.^[3]