Platycerium bifurcatum (Cav.) C.Chr., Polypodiaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Threat only at high elevations?  no

Common name(s): [more details]

English: common staghorn fern, elkhorn fern

French: corne d'élan

Habit:  fern

Description: 

Genus: "…epiphytic ferns, growing on trees and rocks, forming very large clumps. The fleshy light- to dark-green fronds are covered with small star-shaped hairs and are of two distinct types: the sheathing or covering fronds envelop the closely matted rhizome and extend upwards, forming a sheath; the fertile fronds, which extend outwards, are upright or pendulous, and are frequently large and lobed at the ends. The sori form thick patches on the underside of the fertile fronds."

Species: P. bifurcatum (elkhorn fern), with both green and brown sheathing fronds and numerous narrow, fertile fronds lobed into pairs at the end.

P. grande, a large species with distinctly veined, green sheathing fronds and a few particularly wide, pendulous, fertile fronds bearing a brown soral patch in the first fork on the lower surface (Blombery, 1977; pp. 73-74).

Habitat/ecology:  Moist and wet forests. Widely cultivated.

Propagation:  Spores

Native range:  Australia

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia (Pacific offshore islands) Lord Howe Island	Lord Howe Island	native	Orchard, Anthony E., ed. (1994)
Australia (Pacific offshore islands) Norfolk Islands	Norfolk Island	native	Orchard, Anthony E., ed. (1994) "On trees in the forest". Vouchers cited: J. Pickard 3361 (NSW), P.S. Green 2041 (A, K), J. Pickard 3425 (NSW), J. Pickard 3467 (NSW)
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	Rarotonga Island	cultivated	Sykes, Bill (year unknown)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawaiian Islands	introduced cultivated	Staples, George W./Herbst, Derral/Imada, Clyde T. (2000) (p. 28)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia Australia (continental)	New South Wales	native	Australian Biological Resources Study (2007) "Epiphytic, occasionally lithophytic, in rainforest or wet sclerophyll forest".
Australia Australia (continental)	Queensland	native	Australian Biological Resources Study (2007) "Epiphytic, occasionally lithophytic, in rainforest or wet sclerophyll forest".

Also reported from
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
United States (continental except west coast) United States (other states)	USA (Florida)	introduced	Pemberton, Robert W. (2003) (pp. 203-206)

Additional information:  Additional online information about Platycerium bifurcatum is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Taxonomic information about Platycerium bifurcatum may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Australian Biological Resources Study. 2007. Flora of Australia Online. Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra.

Blombery, A. M. 1977. Australian native plants, rev. ed. Angus and Robertson, Australia.

Orchard, Anthony E., ed. 1994. Flora of Australia. Vol. 49, Oceanic islands 1. Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra.

Pemberton, Robert W. 2003. The common staghorn fern, Platycerium bifurcatum, naturalizes in southern Florida. Am. Fern Jour. 93(4):203-206.

Pemberton, Robert W. 2003. The common staghorn fern, Platycerium bifurcatum, naturalizes in southern Florida. Am. Fern Jour. 93(4).

Staples, George W./Herbst, Derral/Imada, Clyde T. 2000. Survey of invasive or potentially invasive cultivated plants in Hawai‘i. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers No. 65. 35 pp.

Sykes, Bill. 0. Bill Sykes, pers. com.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2007. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.