PlantFiles: Ridley's staghorn
Platycerium ridleyi

This rare staghorn is widely scattered from Borneo, Sumatra, Malay Peninsula (Singapore - type locality) and Peninsular Thailand. It is found in evergreen forest, very humid, as high epiphyte over 25 m above ground, exposed, growing with several specimens in one host tree but not in clusters.

However the habitat conversion and loss are the main threats, considering it is an endangered species. It has been said that the species has been extinct in some parts of its previous range.

The fertile frond, protects of the roots and rhizome of the plant and create an enclosed chamber within which is invariably colonised by ants, therefore the plant in cultivations rarely looks as beautiful as wild plants, perhaps due to the lack of certain nutrients of other benefits provided by the ants. It is also often found in association with an ant fern in genus Lecanopteris (Mermecophila).