Platycerium bifurcatum
An epiphytic fern with two leaf types—broad sterile fronds for attachment and long, forked fertile fronds that cascade—native to Australia, Java and New Guinea, commonly mounted on wood or hung on walls, thriving in bright indirect light, high humidity, and regular soaking, often grown indoors with moss, and does not flower.
Common Names
Staghorn Fern, Elkhorn Fern, Common Staghorn Fern, Stag's Horn Fern
Summary
Staghorn fern is a tropical epiphytic fern in the Polypodiaceae family native to Southeast Asia, Polynesia, and subtropical Australia. It grows mounted on tree trunks or boards and can reach 2–3 ft tall and 2–3 ft wide; distinctive features include shield fronds that attach to the host and trap leaf litter and fertile fronds that fork into antler-like structures, with gray-green fertile fronds.
Under cultivation, hardiness zones 9–12; it prefers part shade and medium water; commonly grown as an indoor plant or mounted on wood or bark with moss; maintenance is low; leaves evergreen; propagation by division or spores.
Lifecycle
Perennial
Height
2-3 feet
Spread
2-3 feet
Hardiness Zones
Zones 9-11
Sunlight Requirements
Ideally partial shade.
Soil Type
No soil, epiphytic, mounted on wood with sphagnum moss.
Soil Drainage
Well-drained
Soil pH
6.0-7.0, slightly acidic to neutral
Bloom Time
Does not bloom
Foliage Color
Green, often gray-green.
Fall Foliage Color
No fall foliage color; evergreen.
Leaf Lifecycle
Evergreen broadleaf
Growth Rate
Slow-growing; growth rate varies with environment and accelerates in spring and summer and under ideal light, humidity, moisture, and temperature; not many new fronds per growing season.
Seasons of Interest
Spring and Summer
Propagation Methods
Spores, Division, Seeds
Attracts Wildlife
No wildlife attracted
Taxonomy
- Taxonomic Rank
- Species
- Author
- (Cav.) C.Chr.
- Publication
- Index Filic. : 496 (1906)
Superior Taxa
- Kingdom
- Plantae
- Subkingdom
- Pteridobiotina
- Phylum
- Polypodiophyta
- Class
- Polypodiopsida
- Subclass
- Polypodiidae
- Order
- Polypodiales
- Family
- Polypodiaceae
- Subfamily
- Platycerioideae
- Genus
- Platycerium
Inferior Taxa
Platycerium bifurcatum subsp. bifurcatum Platycerium bifurcatum subsp. willinckii