Staghorn

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 Regional Botanic GardenStony Range RBG Fauna Stony Range RBG Flora

New South WalesBarunguba Montague Island Bourke Blue Mountains Bundeena Central Coast Kosciuszko National Park Mount Kaputar National Park Lower North Shore Northern Beaches Sapphire Coast Snowy Mountains Region South Coast Stony Range Regional Botanic Garden Sydney