PlantFiles: Staghorn Fern
Platycerium superbum

I often saw this plant in my region ^^ People here rarely took and place them on their backyard. But I think its unique

This p. superbum plant is the prize of my garden, yet I hate to admit it endured such abuse for the first 15 years of it's life. My fern was part of my transient decor as I carted it from apartment to apartment for many years. Glad to say, I seem to have redeemed myself by giving it an ideal place to grow old. Three years ago, I remounted this onto a 9 sq. ft. foot wooden board and it is almost ready for another move up. Oh my gosh, a 16 sq. ft. board!! I placed the mounted fern against a west-facing wall, under a dragon tree. I rarely water it, except during the hot summer months, and whatever falls out of the dragon tree, is its food. This is one of the easiest care plants I have in my frost-free garden in San Diego. If you have a bit of patience, buy a small one and find an ideal spot for it (or a less than ideal spot and wait a long time).

A magnificent plant. Still, I've succeeded in killing two young ones already- the first to rot, the second from dryness. I'll keep trying, but this isn't an easy fern.

Platycerium is a genus of about 18 species of ferns. Two, the elkhorn (Platycerium bifurcatum) and the staghorn (P.superbum) are well-known in cultivation.

A fully grown staghorn fern can make an outstanding specimen. Staghorns are generally epiphytic (growing on trees), or occasionally lithophytic (growing on rocks). These ferns have broad nest fronds which grow and embrace the host and from a humus-collecting bowl, which can reach impressive dimensions.

In nature, these ferns often grow high up in trees, where they receive much light filtering through the canopy.

This staghorn fern is a little tougher to grow outdoors than the common P bifurcatum. But if you succeed, you end up with a marvelous plant that is truly a specimen. It can become huge, though, easily weighing over 100lbs... so careful onto which tree you afix it to, or leave it on a board, which many growers do. It does not like a lot of high, dry heat, but if kept wet, can handle a lot of heat. As for cold, it doesn't like frost. However mine has seen frost every year, down to about 28F and not had a problem. This is an Australian fern, from the rainforests.

Excellent, but massive hanging fern, for larger trees/walls. This is one of the favorites of fern growers and collectors due to its massive size and beauty. It is a little more fastidious than P bifurcatum, but it probably still one of the easier to grow in Southern California (many are NOT easy as they require too much moisture or can't tolerate cold). This one gets pretty big, so be sure you have room for it. Best to get a larger specimen as small ones are the finicky ones. Cost can be substantial, though. Recommend keep the base moist through summer, and stop watering when gets cold. Can tolerate a good deal of dessication, though, once large. Not as easy to hack off suckers as P bifurcatum, but pretty forgiving compared to some. Very tasty to snails, which can decimate fern in no time if allowed.