Scientific Name:
Platycerium bifurcatum
Pronunciation:
plat-ih-SEER-ee-um bye-fur-KAY-tum
Common Name:
staghorn fern
Family Name:
Polypodiaceae
Plant Type:
Indoor foliage plant
Key ID Features:
An evergreen epiphytic fern; sterile fronds broad, forked, rounded, 30-90cm long x 15-30cm wide, leathery, with a characteristic split reminiscent of the forked antlers of a stag, fertile fronds narrower and more elongated and lobed, 20-40cm long x 3-5cm wide, arise from the center of the rosette, producing spores on their undersides.
Habit:
Arching, Epiphytic, Pendulous, Upright
Form:
Irregular
Texture:
Coarse
Mature Height:
0.7 - 1.3m
Mature Spread:
0.6 - 1.0m
Origin:
Australia / New Zealand, S.E. Asia / Japan / China
Hardiness Rating:
Zone 10: (-1 to 4 °C)
Exposure:
Part sun/part shade, Filtered shade
Soil/Growing Medium:
Well-drained
Water Use:
Low
Landscape Uses:
Hanging basket, Indoor plant
Additional Info:
Leaf Morphology:
Form:
Simple, Lobed
Arrangement:
Basal
Texture/Venation:
Leathery, Succulent
Surfaces:
Pubescent, Branching hairs
Colour in Summer:
Green, Brown, Sterile fronds brown; fertile covered with white hairs.
Shapes:
Spatulate, Other
Apices:
Emarginate or retuse
Bases:
Attenuate
Margins:
Palmately lobed
Inflorescence Type:
Flower Morphology:
Colour (petals):
No flowers
Flower Time at Peak:
Fruit Type:
Sporangium (spores)
Fruit Colour:
Brown
Fruiting Time:
Bark or Stem Colour:
n/a
Organ Modifications:
Rhizomes
Propagation:
Seed, Division - below ground parts, Tissue culture
Optimal Temp.:
Medium
Light Level:
Medium
Maintenance:
Low
Pest Susceptibility:
Scale insects (Pest resistant, Disease resistant, Rabbit resistant)
