Staghorn Ferns

The first things that catches your attention in my wife's garden are the Staghorn ferns mounted on 3 Kalachuchi (Plumeria Rubra or Temple Flower) trees.

What are Staghorn Ferns?

Staghorn ferns are a group of about 18 species of epiphytic ferns in the genus Platycerium of the polypod family (Polypodiaceae) native primarily to Africa, Australia and Southeast Asia, whose fronds supposedly resemble the forked antlers of male deer or elk. (wimastergardener.org)

One can only marvel at how grand and majestic these ferns have grown considering how small they were when first mounted so many years ago. Here's a picture with both an adult staghorn fern and a (I would say) toddler one:

Ferns in general need moist and shady areas to grow best. Unfortunately, we do not have big trees with which to mount our staghorns. We only have Kalachuchi trees which do not provide good shade. The result is the leavesor fronds of the ferns get scorched by the sun and eventually turn brown and fall off. See photos below:

However, I have noticed that the scorched fronds take a long time to turn totally brown and fall off. Not until a new frond has grown and is ready to replace the old one.

I just love these staghorns and just wish we could have more shade trees to grow them.

I hope you enjoyed this post and get interested in growing your own staghorn fern. All photos are mine.