Cook Islands Biodiversity & Natural Heritage
 

Platycerium bifurcatum

Common Staghorn Fern

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General Information

COMMON NAMES: Common Staghorn Fern, Elkhorn Fern; German Geweihfarn

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE se.Asia - Indonesia - Australia - Melanesia

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Introduced - Recent, Not naturalised; Land

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: Ornamental fern

KEY FEATURES: Large perching fern with antler-like leaves. STERILE LEAVES round, forming a flat collar adhering to the substrate. FERTILE LEAVES to 1m, basal-section ascending; outer-section hanging, flattened, forking 2-4x, with spongania covering the underside at or near the tip.

SIMILAR SPECIES: Platycerium coronarium (not presently recorded in teh Cooks) has fertile leaves forked up to 7x (vs. forked to 5x), and sporangia on rounded or kidney-shaped lobes (vs. on terminal tapering lobes).

Enlarged Image of 'Platycerium bifurcatum'

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map View Distribution Map

Southern Group: Present    Makatea:
RR 
MG
AT
MK
MT
AK
PL
TK
MN
++
-
-
-
-
-
-

Northern Group: -
TN 
MH
RK
PK
NS
SW
-
-
-
-
-

Key to Symbols

Scientific Taxonomy

Platycerium bifurcatum (Cav.)
SYNONYMS: Platycerium alcicorne Hort.

TAXONOMY: PLANTAE; PTERIDOPHYTA (=Pterophyta); Polypodiales; POLYPODIACEAE

More Information

IDENTIFICATION: A large perching fern with antler-like fronds to 1m. STERILE LEAVES round to 50cm, wavy, papery, forming a flattened collar clasping the substrate. FERTILE LEAVES to 100cm, basal section rounded and ascending; terminal section strap-like, hanging, 2-5x forked, leathery; sporangia on terminal parts of ultimate lobes, covering underside and extending to the tip or within 2cm. Cultivars: several.

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
None Recorded.

References:
p.25 Neal - In Gardens of Hawaii
p.905 Royal Hort. Soc. Index of Garden Plants
p.450 Tropica

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zM04a, zD02, zupD04a

Web Resources

Citation Information

McCormack, Gerald (2007) Cook Islands Biodiversity Database, Version 2007.2. Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust, Rarotonga. Online at http://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org. Copy citation to system clipboard
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