Stony Range RBG FloraBanksia serrata Bird’s Nest Fern Boronia mollis x fraseri Broad-leaved Drumsticks Cabbage Tree Palm Cyathea australis Flame Pea Flannel Flower Fuchsia Heath Native Violet Pink Rock Orchid Pittosporum revolutum Staghorn
The Staghorn Fern (Platycerium superbum), commonly known as the Staghorn is native to the lowland rainforest regions in Queensland and the northern parts of New South Wales.
The family Platycerium species, that include P. superbum, is an epiphyte (grows on trees) or occasionally lithophytic (growing on rocks).
The Staghorn fern antlers are an impressive ‘nest’ frond that at maturity can measure 1 metre across. This ‘nest’ frond collects falling leaves and insects that provide the fern a valuable source of potassium, calcium and other nutrients.
It is from the frond that the fern attaches itself to the host tree. The frond protectively wraps around the rhizome and short roots, clasping onto the furrows in the bark of the tree with root like structures.
Platycerium is from the Greek platys, ‘broad’, and keras ‘horn’, that refer to the shape of the fertile frond — superbum is from the Latin superbus, ‘superb’.
- Scientific classification
- Kingdom: Plantae
- Phylum: Charophyta
- Class: Equisetopsida
- Subclass: Polypodiidae
- Order: Polypodiales
- Family: Polypodiaceae
- Genus: Platycerium
- Species: Platycerium superbum
Footnote & References
- Platycerium superbum, Australian National Herbarium, https://www.anbg.gov.au/gnp/interns-2006/platycerium-superbum.html
- Platycerium superbum de Jonch. & Hennipman, Staghorn, Atlas of Living Australia, https://bie.ala.org.au/species/https://id.biodiversity.org.au/node/apni/2901084
Stony Range RBG FloraBanksia serrata Bird’s Nest Fern Boronia mollis x fraseri Broad-leaved Drumsticks Cabbage Tree Palm Cyathea australis Flame Pea Flannel Flower Fuchsia Heath Native Violet Pink Rock Orchid Pittosporum revolutum Staghorn
Stony Range Regional Botanic GardenStony Range RBG Fauna Stony Range RBG Flora
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