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).

Cook Islands Distribution

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

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

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

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

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:
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

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