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Staghorn Fern

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Plant Number: 36

Common Name: Staghorn Fern

Scientific Name: Platycerium superbum 

Derivation of name

Platycerium - is derived from the Greek words platys meaning "flat" and ceras meaning "a horn", referring to the shape of the fronds

superbum - from the Latin superbus meaning 'superb'


 Description

  • Epiphytic (growing on trees) or lithophytic (growing on rocks) fern

  • Sterile fronds to 60 cm which form a humus-collecting bowl up to one metre across, where it collects insects and falling leaves, a valuable source of potassium and calcium

  • Fertile fronts to two metres which have brown sori, which contain the spores, on the underside

  • Native to lowland rainforests in Queensland and Northern New South Wales

 

Human uses

Decorative fern

Acknowledgment: Mangroves to Mountains, Save our Waterways Now, Australian National Herbarium

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Last reviewed 06 July 2020
Last updated 06 July 2020