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HOBBYIST'S<:~)~::S_/:}Y;:::--'V

HANDBOOKBY ROY VAIL

PL........... YC~ ; : ~:::to : -:--;

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BY ROY VAIL

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Vail, Roy (l937 - )Platycerium Hobbyist's Handbook

], Ferns 1. Title

SB 429,V35 ]984 635.9'37'31 84-72020

ISBN: 0-9614003-0-7

Copyright © 1984 by Roy Vail

Please respect the author's efforts and rights,and do not duplicate, copy, or store thematerial in this book an any way.

-DB p-Desert Biological Publications

Box 722

Mena, Arkansas, 71953

First edition:

First Printing

Second Printing

Third Printing

Forth Printing

Fifth PrintingSixth PrintingSeventh PrintingEighth Printing

Ninth Printing

Tenth Printing

Eleventh Printing

Twelfth Printing

Thirteenth Printing

October 1984

February 1985

May 1985

November 1989

September 1990July 1992May 1993June 1995

February 1997

September 1997

March 1998

October 1999

February 2000

This photo of a giantP. wandae is alsoFig. 9. The color printreveals a light dust ofbrown spores on the uppersurface of the fertilefronds.

Table of Contents

ForewardAcknowledgementsIntroduction

1

25

InformationGeneralChapter 1NamesParts of a Staghorn FernGrowth Patterns .

Chapter 2 CultivationRooting MaterialMounting or AttachmentPests .FertilizerWater .....EnvironmentChemical Application

99

1221222326

Chapter 3 PropagationTissue CulturePups .Spore Culture

313335

Chapter 4 SpeciesP. alcicorneP. andinwnP. bifurcatwnP. coronar't-wnP. ellisiiP. elephantotisP. grandeP. hilliiP. holttumiiP. madagascarienseP. quadridichotomumP. ridleyiP. stemariaP. superbumP. veitchiiP. wallichiiP. wandaeP. willinckii

4549525662667174767984879196

101105109113

Chapter 5 CultivarsIntroduc.tion 121The Cultivars 124Other Cultivar Notes 157

Chapter 6 ItemsHybrids ] 59Ne-.;v Species 1591'''108S Note 159Suppliers 163Fe rn Periodicals 164Books and Reprints............................... 165

Conclusion 167

Index 169

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I wish to thank the many people who allowed me to visit theircollections, ask questions, and take photographs. These include:Dr. Frank Schlicht, Virginia Ault, John Bender, Elaine Spear,Rick Neidhart, Robert Oman, Mickey Carmichael, Fantastic Gardens,Mildred Murray, John Wills, Don Callard, Ray Sodomka, BoydHarrin, Marvin Haworth, Carolyn Rodefer, Frank Stewart, Ed Moore,John Roach, Kartuz Greenhouse, Rudolf Ziesenhenne, DorothyEstabrook, Bill and Helen Shortt, Bill Cook, Porter's Tropicals,Dr. Mardy Darian, Susann Harper, Susan Eatherton, Dr. Hank B.Weyland, and Jule Pauliny.

Many have helped in special ways: Tom Henrichs and his family putup with me for days, and Tom and I traveled together in Florida,Ralph and Elizabeth Hughes have given many hours of help, manyPlatycerium~ and allowed me days in their extensive Platyceriumexperimental collection, Jerry Horne gave much horticulturaladvice and his family welcomed me during visits three summers,Phyllis and Ed Bates spent days making contacts for me andwe visited collections together in southern California, ErnieSanchez spent nearly a day answering questions and carryingplants around in his nursery for me to photograph, David Millerphotographed plants in his nursery since my visit there was at aninopportune time, Dorothy Behrends talked with me about the Casscultivars on the morning of her 76th birthday, Milton Piedra wasan exquisite host in Miami, Barbara Joe Hoshizaki commented onmy questions, Eugenio Pingatore of Argentina made the finedrawing on page 43, Eth Williams related her experiences withP. madagascariense~ and the San Diego Fern Society sponsoredthe printing of the covers. If I have forgotten anyone, I canonly say I am sorry, it was not intentional. The Platyceriumhobby is full of nice and interesting people.

Phyllis Bates, and my mother, Mariann Vail, read early forms ofthe text and offered extremely valuable suggestions and neededencouragement. Ralph Hughes, Tom Henrichs and Susan Eathertonreviewed later versions and each contributed significantly toimproving the book. However, not all these people agree witheverything I have written. Any mistakes, misconceptions, oropinions are entirely my own.

Common names are from Ralph H. Hughes, 1981, Conn~lon Names ofStaghorn Ferns, Fiddlehead Forum, Vol. 8(3) :21, May-June. Theinformation for distribution maps is mainJy from Hennipman, E.and Roos, :'1. C. 1982, A >1onograph of the Fern Genus rZ':C(;J:,u:.:el'·!::.'I/,>!.1\11 maps, drmvlngs and photos are by the author unless othendseindicated.

FOREWARn

I have known Roy Vail for several· years and have watched thisbook progress from just an idea to reality. Roy and I sharetwo things: a fascination with the genus PZatycerium that, attimes, borders on an obsession, and relative isolation fromthe rest of the staghorn world. Hence, I can feel a specialempathy for the problems envolved in this project. Roytraveled nearly 12,000 miles in the last 3 years, most of it onbusses. He has visited nearly every commercial dealer and majorprivate collector of Platycerium in the U.S. I accompanied himon one trip to Florida and observed first hand the countlessrolls of film taken and the numerous questions he asked ofvarious collectors. I particularly remember one sultry eveningsitting together on Milton Piedra's front porch about 10 PM .• e had spent all day visiting nurseries in Miami and werewaiting for Milton to arrive, as he had agreed to "put us up"for the night. I thought to myself, "l don't know how I made itthrough today!" Then I thought about Roy doing it day after day,Dany times after sleeping in his seat on the bus at night. Itbas to take a special dedication to devote the amount of timeand money that Roy has, to a project that holds no guarantee ofsuccess. I don't know how much time Roy has devoted tocorrespondence with other collectors, but if the dozens ofletters in my file are any indication, he has been busy nightand day.

Roy Vail is a high school biology teacher, who has beenphotographing plants as a hobby for 30 years. He lives on thedesert, about 5 miles north of Las Cruces, New Mexico. At4,000 feet elevation, Roy has the dual problems of very lowhumidity and large temperature differentials. He has overcomethese problems by designing and constructing his own greenhouse.It is sunk 4 feet in the ground with earth bermed up almost9 feet against the north wall. He uses the earth to moderatetemperature and uses evaporative cooling aspen pads and fans to.aintain sufficient humidity and limit high temperatures. Withthe relative lack of insect pests that bother Platycerium in hislocation, he has been able to provide growing conditionsthat often surpass those of areas normally considered conduciveto good staghorn culture, i. e. south Florida and coastalsouthern California. Additionally, Roy has providedaicro-climates within his greenhouse by the use of alternatingtranslucent fiberglass and opaque panels.

This book is unique in that no one previously has attempted tophotographically document all the cultivars. It also fillsthe void in current information readily understandable by theamateur hobbyist. It is the first individual undertaking, notrelated to a research paper or scientific publication sinceWendy Franks' book in 1975. Both the beginner and the expertwill" find useful information included.

Roy and I share one other thing:discover the rewarding hobby ofbelieve that with this book, Roytoward stimulating interest in the

Tom Henrichs

the sincere hope that othersgrowing staghorn ferns; I

has made a major contributiongenus Platycerium.

Foley, Alabama

INTRODUCTION

"!'1y hope is this book ,,-"ill be a service to the ~;Z':;:'>~'i?r'?:;A.'.-r:;

hob by i s t \.;'h[) is jus t s tar tingas ",7elI as t 11 eon e \~"h 0 hasgrm·."T1 these ferns for vears. The beginner will find a'v.7ca1thof infonnation based on the experiences uf others andnumerous example species, cultivars and methods which canopen nE\"7 viev.'s and interests in th is hobby. The cxper i enc cdhobbyist will find a level of treatment never before givent he genus PLG-t~/ce1:>i"'JTi.

But no one who writes a book on a group of plants knows all

there is to know about that group of plants. The total expertjus t isn I t alive. Rudy Ziesenhenne told mE., liTo knov.' theseplants you have to GROh' them. People who ",>rite hooks fromother books aren I t doing anybody any good. 11 Realizing this,I have relied as little as possible on the writings of otherpeopJe, and as much as possible on my O\<lI1 experjences andthose of nearly everyone 1 could find, visit or write, whoknew, grev.', imported, call ected, or photographed ?ZQ;;:;iCe}<11'I"..·

During such an extensivevariety of ideas developed.some ore advice.

information gathering project, aBelow is an assorLment of thCD,

1. Different people \;'ho grow tbe saIllE species 1;.;'ell may usedifferent growing methods.

To me this means the plants themselves are adaptable andcan be gro\\'Tl under different conditions. But th.1s alsomeans methods that work in one location may not work inanother. Each of us needs to experiment 1;.;'ith differentgrowing methods. There may not be a best way of growingsome Plc:.tyceY·ivF! species.

But, most importantly, it means if you are alreadysuccessfully grov.ring a PlaZ';jC2T-:>'))Y;' species, do not changeyour rr,etbod simply because it doE'S not match v,Th2t isdescribed 00 one of these pages. Keep doing what you aredoing, and tell ME about it, so later editions of thisbook can be better than this one. Look upon what is hereonly as a collection of clues, based on people'sexpeYiences, for you to conSlder onl)' if your currentgrowing methods might benefit.

II. There could be other books 1;0'ritten about PI'2bic,gJ.'~~V]Ti.-'

:-ly vi.siting also forced me to decide early Hhat type ofmaterial vlOuld be in this book. The title ltP1at)'ceriumHobbyist's Handbook!! guided me to include what could beuseful or interesting to anyone 1;.,]ho has some PZa-tyceY'iwnand wants to pick up a book that tells what they are andhow to grow them.

There is also a very different type of information.Largely in the memories of people now in their 70s and80s are accounts of the early days of collecting,import ing, and gnJ\,7ing .?Z(Z tjjC>CI'i:um. They are sto ries 0 fcompetition, feuds. personalities, explorations, dnd tlumanevents, which all will slowly be lost as these people passon. It would take long recorded discussions with manypeople to even begin to put these stories together In ameaningful way, far beyond the scope of this book. Theresulting book would not tell the reader a thing abouthenv to grm....' 0 r identify r~~a1.:yceI"iZAr:'7:J however it 1;,"oul d befascinating reading.

III. The difficult species are difficult for everyone.

Fe\ver than five people known to me keep P. mad'aga.'3caY'?~,enBe, • 7·' , • h II· Jor ? CrJ.Cictri..,.c.7...J~j'Zoromwn Wlt any success. '.. 1lS c,oes not

mean keeping them is impossible. It may mean they requirespec ial care, and special environmental conditions, 1;-Jhichfew people are willing to provide year after year.

IV. Please keep those labels.

There are many large and beautiful PZatuceY'iu'T! \'1hoseu

labels have been lost. To the beginning hobbyist it seemsplants take forever to become large or pup, but in a fewyears some are giants and others have pups galore. Butwhere are the labels? Too often the Platycerium haveovergrcn~TJl them, or the pen faded I or the plastic labelcracked and part of it fell off. The name is gone.

The solution is prevention. Use metal labels, non-fadingnursery pens, nail labels to the front ALl\D back of boards,or paint them, engrave them, woodburn them, do anythingto make the label permanent. No one can remember the namesof an entire collection. Please keep those labels.

V. Insist on correct labels and information.

It make.s a collection of PZ-Gtyee rl~.UYT;

it has as much history as possible oncollection one has a label that goespeople, the last on the list collected

more interesting ifeach plant. In myback through threeit in Madagascar.

But, if you buy a plant from a dealer with what you feelis incorre.ct information, take the dealer to task. Onehobbyist had on the S3me wall three very J.iffercntplants, all bought from the same dealer, all sold asP. b'if'7.lreat"i)Pi" CV. Haj us. She thinks the dealer justlabels plants Hith the Ilame the customer is requesting.In my opinion the dealer doesn't deserve to be i.nbusiness. Incorrect informatioIl is worse than none at all.

VI. There is great concern about the destruction of tropicalforests by man.

Hy startj.ng attitude toward collectlng In tne vnJ d andimport ing ,-Jas: Pl-atyeeY"iU,In should id e811y be propagatedfrom pups and spores so those in nature could be leftthere. But many collec.tors and importers feel the tropicalforests are being destroyed so rapidly by oil companies,lumber companies~ or for crops and cities, that the verybest chance the PZatyccr{·urn have is to get them from thewild and into cultivation. It is not clear to me whichview is the more realistic, but concern about destructionof tropical rain forests is very real.

Very deba table si tuat ions have developed over the et hi.csof collec t ing. One col lee tor 'iVan ted the PlatLieer'ium in.. '

the upper branches of a tree, but would have to cut thetree dmrn. The collecting permit forbid that. Returninga year later, the collector found that very tree had beencut dm.Jl1 to clear the. land, and the PL.cztiieeJ''1>wr: no doubthad died. The collector then illegally c~t down a nearbytree and got the PLci~Llc:er[Y:Jn in it. Should the secondtree have been left for probably' the same fate as thefirst?

In another case, an article was being written. Itdescribed the environmental conditions un an island wherePlatyecY'1:wn v..'cre collected and exported. Then it describedhow they adapted to the different environmental conditionsin ana ther par L 0 f the \-Jorld. Befo re publ ishing thearticle, its author discovered that the plants were

collected and exported clandestinely. Should the articlebe published, showing that the author purchased illegallycollected plants, or withheld, even though that means theresult~ of the study will be lost?

VII. The naming of cultivars is completely out of control.

You could name any Platyceriv~ after any person, place, orthing not already used as a name, and that name could getinto the trade. Unlike orchids and begonias, tilere is noorganization which outlines the rules for giving namesand then registers the names.

The cultivar section in this book is the most completeever published, with a photo of nearly everyone, but thephotos also show that few of the cultivars are distinct.Often the differences between cultivars were originallycaused by growing the plants in unusual environments. ffi18nthey are grown in the same environment side by side, thedifferences disappear. Very often the diffe~ences betweenthe fronds fanned by one plant may be greater than thedifferences between cultivars.

VIII. The current cultivars have been formed mainly by chance.

The reason so many of the cultivars look alike after beinggrown in the same conditions is their formation has beenlargely by chance. The days when a truly unique cultivarcan be found as a volunteer sporeling, or as a slightlydifferent plant among many sporelings, are about over.Now is the time to begin systematically developing newcultivars by selecting specific traits among sporelingsover several generations.

ror example, if the goal of a breeding program is for verywide but undiv:Lded fertile fronds, locate two cultivarsnow available that show wide fertile fronds, carefullycross thern~ select among their offspring for the verywidest that are undivided, cross them, select again andkeep selecting for an extremely wide cultivar. The samecan be done for high number of pointed tips, for tipsthat curve to the side, for long narrow fronds, or anyother tra it.

IV

There are no known variegated PZatycerium cultivars. Someexperiments with irradiated spore, even using ultra violetlight, might produce some.

What has been lacking is systematic effort to developPlatycerium cultivars that show specific forms.

IX. Truly observe these interesting plants.

Taking notes on what your Platycerium are doing duringthe year adds dimensions to your hobby. What time of theyear do different species form shield fronds? When arethey growing fertile fronds? When are the shield frondsall dead? When are the shield fronds all green? m1enare the plants dormant? What species go dormant? How longdo the fertile fronds live? How early can you tell wherethe spore patch will be? Share this information so it canbecome known if the answers to these questions aredifferent in different localities.

Fig. 1 A variegated, green and yellow, Platyceriumin the nursery of Jerry Horne, in Miami, in1980. Later the plant turned all yellow anddied. None of the pups were variegated.

v

x. Support responsible small nllrseri.es.

Most of the PZatycerium of interest to the serioushobbyist are grown, developed, or imported by a very fewsmall nurseries. In these days of big business, it isdifficult for these little nurseries to keep going. Findthe truly reliable ones and support them. Support can comein many forms. Send them pups they can sell, send themstarts of cultivars that are truly different, ask them forspore and give them some of the sporelings in trade.Support also means buying from them. They live on moneylike the rEst of us. The Platyccrium hobby has beenimproved greatly by the small nurseries.

XI. If you travel, take notes, take pictures, and write.

Those who are fortunate enough to travel to the placesPlatyce1"l.:wn are native can help the rest of us greatly.Take notes on Hhere the PZatycer1.>uJrl grow, photographthem, and when you return, ,,'rite an article for a hobbyistpublication. But, remember your readers. Even though yourmost vivid experiences may be in the traveling~ thehobbyist reading your article is looking for information

that Hill aid in understanding and growing P!atyceriwn.Write what is accurate and practical for the reader.

A "f'Zatycerium picture is truly worth a thousand words, sothere are no long technical descriptions of species orcultivars in this book. Descriptions are hardly possiblewith the cultivars. and are readily available elsewhere forthe species.

Finally; the best reason to keep any Platycerium is becauseyou like it. Keeping correct labels and names is extremelyimportant, but even in my collection there are a few with nonames, there just because I LIKE them.

IIIi

.,

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P. b i fur cat um c v. Ma jus

VII

CHAPTER ONE: General Information

I. Names:

Scientific names are part of a classification system made,,,ith the goal 0 f showing na l ural rela t ionships . AIl plantsand animals are given two word scientific names. The firstword is the genus name, the second the species name.Staghorn ferns all have the genus name Plat'LIc:eriuJTI.Closely related genera (genera is the plural for ge;ws) aregrouped in to Families. PZatycerium is in the familyPolypodiaceae which ill so contains PYY':r'OHi~a, their cIa ses trelatives.

Currently 18 speciesThree natural groups ofregion, seem evident:

of PZ-atyceriurn are recognized.·J;;PlatuceriuJr) , each from a di.fferent

,)

Java-Australian

b-ifuY'caturnhi.llii

MalayclIl-Asiat ic

c.' 7rni-0 "Y'b" I,??~) .-"1,.:.." ....... ..L. (/l..J,'!

11.0 ZttvJn1: ..igrande,,;)andaeUQ Zl "~ c hh:

corOnaYl-VFI

Alro-Ameri.can

a lc·tcorne

3 f;(3,m(JX~1:.a

e Ze~)hantotis

7 •an 0:0 nW17

, .rnaaagaeCQY'7.. enDC

The order andrelationships.individually,

groupingLater,

they are

under ea ch loc-a t ton is to 811m,"~'lhere the spec-J.e's are discussed

arranged alphabetically for ease.

* Variety name (var.), subspecies names (ssp), andcultivar names (cv.) 1DC1Y be after the species name.Hennipman and Roos, in the book, IIA Honogr<"lph of the FernGenus Platuce'i'iwTI," 1982, consider the number of species

~'

Lo be 15. They combine P. vwi-~~chi>[,~ P. hilL1>L~ P.bifurcat·wn. and P. wi,lZ-inckii~ making one species of thefour.

-1-

II. Parts of a staghorn fern:

A. Bud-All new growth starts in the bud. It may becovered with thin scales. The shape, thicknessand color of the scales are sometimes used toidentify species. If the bud of your plant isdead, for all practical purposes, your plant isdead also, though it may take several weeks forall the other parts to turn brown and falloff.

B. Rhizome-As the bud makes new growth, it moves fonvard andupward, forming behind it a type of stem calleda rhizome. The rhizome is hidden among the shieldfronds and does not show unless they are cut.

s ore patch

fertile frond

bud

rhi zome

roots

shield frond

Fig 2 Parts of the staghorn fern. The rhizomehas been dra\.,rn lonp,er than it is.

_7_

Fig. 3 The rhizome dissected froma dead P. coronarium.

shield

bud

rhizome

Fig. 4. The end of the rhizome in Fig. 3, the whitedots are vascular bundles.

-3-

C. Fronds-The leaves of ferns (and palms) are calledfronds. Staghorns form two types of fronds.

1. Fertile fronds-These grow down or outward from the bud,and produce spore patches. Not all fertilefronds on young plants form spore patches,but those on mature plants with adequatelight should.

2. Shield fronds-These grow back from the bud, and coverthe roots. In most species they turnbrown quickly, becoming a thick mass ofwater and f~od storage cork. with rootsbetween the layers.

D. Roots-Branching off the rhizome, they grow between theold shield fronds, and in the material thatnaturally collects behind the shield fronds.

Fig. 5

Newly imported P. coronarium~

with shields and bud. Shieldsare cut back to decreaseshipping weight. The plantsoon recovers.

-4-

III. Growth pattcrns-

In nature ?latyeeY"iurn Live as epi phytes, plants that grov]upon other plants, but make their own food. Most bromelladsand orchids are also epiphytes. Often living high in thebranches of trees, epiphytes must sornchm.J solve three mainproblems:

A. Attaching themselves firmlyB. Collecting nutrientsC. Collecting and storing water

These problems are solved some,,,ha t dif ferently by thesolitary species than they are by the species that formpups.

Solitary species:

These species reproduce only by spores and grow into singlegigantic specimens with only one bud. They solve the threeproblems of epiphytes by:

A. Attachment:Their attachment problem is solved by the large shield

fronds wrapping around the tree trunk, and to a lesserextent, the roots growing into the outer, non-livinglayers of the tree.

B. Nutrients:Nutrients and organic matter hutld up in gn::at amounts

behind their shield fronds. Older shield fronds die androll hack. while other natural material collects.

C. Hater:Their water problems are solved by the spreading tops of

the shield [rands collecting rainwater which runs downinto the shi.eld frond mass behi-nd the plant and is stored.

The solitary species are:

P. qY'andeP. ho l t !;um?: r[

~P. ridleyi is an exception to these. It stays smaller and doesnot collect nutrients or water as described.

-5-

Pup-forming species:

The size of the clusters these species form is massive. Afriend of mine saw a cluster of P. bifurcatum that grew soheavy it pulled the bark off the tree and a cluster the sizeof a small car fell to the ground. As another example,P. alcicorne is reported to entirely cover the trunks ofpalm trees, from near the ground up to where the palm frondsform shade.

A. Attachment:They solve the problem of attachment by

which completely surrounds the sternplant.

making a massof the support

B. Nutrients:The different species vary in how much nutrient matter

they build up behind their shield fronds from whatfalls there. Those with shield fronds whose top edgeextends forward, away from the tree, build up decayingmaterial in back. Those whose shield frond top growsagainst the tree must get their nutrients from theirown old shield fronds as they die.

Fig. 6

A tiny bud on the surfaceof the shield frond of thepup-forming cultivar,P. bifurcatum cv. SantaBarbara.

-6-

C. Water:Water in great amounts can be stored in the cork

tissue of old shield fronds. One species is from anarea that can go without rain for three months.

The pup-forming species are:

P. alc'icorne p . elephantot'in P. quadridichotomu~

P. " . n ellir-n>i D .stemariaanQ'&nurn L • L •

P. lJij'urcatwi1 1) hi: Ill:?: P. veitchiir

P. coronar&wn lJ . madaaascaY'iense P. willinckii,)

The method of surviving in nature of the pup-forming spec~~:

and solitary species is very different. In solitary speci~~,

the individual being able to live for a long time is the ba~::

of survival. In pup-forming species, the cluster or group __the basis of survival. An individual of the pup-formi~;

species may die, or be lost, as long as the group survivE~

So, in nature, collecting plants from a cluster of _pup-forming staghorn is not nearly the threat to survival =~

its species as collecting plants of a solitary staghorn ::to its species. The pup-forming one can replace the pla~::

lost with pups from those that remain, but the solitary _.,_can replace those lost only if there are successful spo~~,

that come in from other locations.

For additional reading-Hoshizaki, Barbara Joe, Morophology and Phylogeny of

Platyccri7Al71. Biotropica, 1972, 4(2) 93-117 Astudy of cells and tissue structure. Contains akey to species, and a diagram of the relationshipof the species.

Hoshizaki, Barbara Joe, The Rhizome Scales ofPlatyc~riu~. Amer. Fern J., 1970, 60;144-160

-7-

Fig. 7 Healthy bud of P. coronar~um~ with rhizomescales.

-8-

CHAPTER TWO: Cultivation

There are almost as many ways of c.ultivating staghorns asthere are people who do it. The seneral ideas are:

I. The staghorn needs material \vhere roots can grow.

Currently most hobbyists and nurseries use sphagnum alone,regular or green. Mosses from Wisconsin, Hashington,Florida, Oregon, Michigan and Germany are commerciallyavailable. Hail-order suppliers sell moss by the hale.Since osmunda fiber lasts longer and drains faster,growers Hhere excessive rainfall is a problem mi.x it withsphagnum moss. SphClgnum peat is rarely used since it holdsmuch moisture and gives off a material that stains theshield fronds. The product called orchid bark is reportedto cause many root problems.

II. The staghorn must be attached or mounted.

A. General c.onsiderations-The type of mounting used for aFLatyceI'iul71 depends on

how the owner wants it to develop. The plants areadaptable. RedHcJOd or cypress boards'';-, dri£t\.;rood, corkpJ.aques, chickenwire baskets, wcldwire baskets, redwoodboxes, redHood flats \vith chickemvire over the [rant;flmver pots, treefc:rn pots, trees, big balls of moss onchains, poles with creosote running out, are all usedsome\vhere by someone. In nature FI(J.tyceY'-7~wn even grow onrocks.

When ne\dly received a staghorn may be in a flovler pot.Usually such plants nre large enough. to be transferred toa moss mounting. Such plants are only juveniles, so tryto learn what siL:C they can become and pJ an accordingly.

non-renewablegrmv them on

rarely replacr:d.these historicand coat it to

are essentiallypractical to

are cut arethe removal ofto use pine,

* Both redwood and cypressresources. It is notplantations so those thatRather than contribute totrees, it seems betterprevent its rotting.

-9-

Fig. 7 Two large balls of P. veitchii cv. Lemoinei.

Fig. 9

One of the largest specimeJof solitary staghornsthis country is this gialP. wandae in a tree ofcollector in Miami.

-10-

When mounting, considerspecies that stay solitarySpecial requirements forChapter 4.

the differences between theand those which form pups.particular species are in

B. Solitary species-These are mounted on boards, on trees, or on redwoodboxes. A common way is to put roofing nails around theedge of a board, or on the tree. Small plastic coatedwire is wrapped around the nails and then across theshields. The large heads of roofing nails keep the wirefrom coming off. New shield fronds will grow over thewires and nails. More wire is added as the plant getslarger. Some people drill holes in the boards, then runnylon line through them, or put nylon netting over themoss and staple the netting to the board.

If the plant gets too large for the first board, itmay be best to fasten the first board onto the nextlarger board. In any case, do not damage the bud, orcover it.

Fig. 10

A "Bill Shortt Box."It is packed withmoss and chickenwireis put on the front.The shape of thewater trough in thetop assures watergets to the roots.

-11-

c. Pup-forming species-As time goes by, these will form pups and clusters in

nearly every case. If the pups are to remain, plan ,,;'herethey can be. On a board, the parent plant can be put onan extra large pad of moss, and plan for the pups to formaround the edge. On driftwood, moss can be packed inplaces where the roots should grow and become the buds ofpups.

In round baskets, the parent plant is often put in theopen top so the pups can form on the sides. Rectangularwire baskets are often made only eight or ten em (twoor three inches) thick, so the roots soon reach the back,,;,here they form pups.

Hmvever, pups ,vill not form where planned unless thespot is kept moist. The most common mistake in makinga basket is to pack the moss too loosely for it to staymoist, so the expected pups never form. On a board,if the moss on each side is not kept moist, the pupscome out: the top and the bottom, ",-here the moisturetends to he.

There can nol be a single best wayKeep in mind the requirements ofahead for the appearance you desire.

lO mount D"l,-d"",,_oT'-;I IYri.. .:... .:....... :....{. V :...;~ J'.J.. (.' ,.....: .. I.

the species, nnc1 jHan

III. The staghorn must live relatively free of pests.

A. Insects:

1. Control Program-Part of the reason sOllle grOl.Jers "have luck l1 "''ith the

difficult PlQty::el'>iv_/i? species is they control inE;ccts.Control means preventing insects from getting started,rather than ,,'aiting to battle outbreaks. One sm,rbugcan make a mess out of fronds that took a year togrow. Waiting for this to happen doesn't make sense.There is 3 saying, "A caekroach ,,,auld \oJalk a mile justto eat a l:JZati))ceY"iwn r:dleL,'i.!! Don't wait for him to

• u

get there, stop him in his tracks.

Sprayfrondsand as

the plants completely. Sometimes the tips ofcan burn because the spray runs dm.JTI to them,

the water evaporates, the spray is concentrated

-12-

there. Normally spraying should be done after wateringto avoid allowing the spray to soak to the roots.However, if an insect keeps reappearing, it could becoming out of the moss, and a thorough drenching of themoss and roots may be the only cure.

With a program forprevention, it isimportant not to relyon just one spray asinsects may developresistance. Pickabout three and rotatetheir use.

2. Buying insecticides*

Since insecticideconcentrations varybetween brands and indifferent countries,and since ferns as agroup are sensitiveto insecticides, thesafest rule is usethem at half strength.Only with PZatyceriumwhich are in very highlight where they arehard and tough, shouldeven 3/4 strength beused.

Fig. 10

Tip of fertile frondof P. hiZZii cv. Panamaburned by insecticide.

Dealing with sensitive plants makes it necessary toread the ingredients of insecticides. It is notnecessary to pronounce the long names to recognizethose that are identical. Sevin is Carbaryl (l-napthylN-methylcarbamate), the active ingredient of severalinsecticides, and flea collars, that do not say Sevin

*All pesticides in this book with capital first lettersare registered names.

-13-

on the labels. O,O-diethyl 0-(2-isoprophy-6-mcthyl-4­pyrimidinyl) phosphoro-thioate is Diazinon.

read ingredients can easily wastethan one of the ",'ell-krlO\Vll

contain, 25.0% Diazinon, 54.4%derivative solvent, and 20.6% inert

notdo\vhomoney buying moreinsec t ieid c s ,,"hie haromatic petroleumingredients.

Those

Petroleum distillates, or xylenes, are often used ascarriers or solvents iIi insecticides. Since they alsohelp kill the insects, they must be listed \'vith theactive ingredients. They are very harmful to ferns.Avoid them. Some inexpensive scale insect sprays arealmost entirely petroleum distillates.

Thc-: inert ingredients, i11though a 11lystery, should notdamage staghorns. Both Kelthane and Halathion c:an bepurchased in solution with inert ingredients only, nopetroleum distillates, or xylenes.

Malathion, Sevin, Diazinon, and Orthene are availableas powders at feed stores, or landscaping nurseTies.Tn this form they m8Y be pJaced behind the moss beforemounting the fern.

1'1.'.1 lathion, DiazinoIl, Cygan, (Cygan isa root drench) Isotox, Kelthane,insecticidal soap, and Black Leaf 40staghorns.

also available asOrthene, Sevin,are all used on

3. Specific Insect Prob1ems-

Of the larger insec ts, sO\.Jbugs and scales are problemson staghorns. Black Leaf 40 controls scales. Mostother insecticides must be used at such ('oncentratiollsto kill scales that they damage the ferns. Sm.Jbugshide during the day, hut corne out at night and eatthe softest parts of the fern. Spray thoroughly anddrench the sphagnum to kill those in it. Scatteringgranules of Diazinon helps control sowbugs.

Of tlw tiny insects, thrips and mites aTe common onSL'If!,horns. A lOX handlens is almost a necessity to]ocate them. They C<:.m be eithE:'r dark, light., orsilvery, and may lw in thc~ moss, on the dead oo11ie Ld

-14-

Fig. 12Mealybug, more advancedinfection, on StapeZia.This stage is moreoften seen.

Fig. 11Right- Mealybug found ona CoZeus. In the earlystages of an infectionthe whole animal shows.

Left- Scale, shown aboutactual size, found on aPZatyceriwn.

Fig. 13A young P. ridZeyi,looking very well, butdoomed to die. Evenwith this large, whiteflea collar in place,the tip of the bud waseaten, probably by asowbug. It took overtwo months for theplant to completelyfade away.

-15-

fronds, or on the bud.Overwatering increasesproblems with theseinsects. Picking upthe fern to inspect itmay alert them. Thenthey hide. Drenchingthe sphagnum withMalathion, Sevin, orDiazinon kills them.Kelthane controlsmites. If a staghornis not doing as wellas it should, thesetiny insects are oftenthe reason. Submersingplants one after theother in a containerof water may spreadthem.

Fig. 14Snow scale on the shieldfrond of P. ellisii. Itis a pest in southernstates where plants arekept in open locations.

Snow scale shows as small white tufts. It can becontrolled using Blackleaf 40, followed by Diazinon,then Malathion, with only two days between sprayings.The white tufts remain, but inspection will show theinsects are dead.

With areceivedneeded toeggs that

B. Fungi-

serious insect outbreak, or when plants areheavily infested, repeated sprayings are

kill both the adults and the young from thewill hatch later.

Control of fungi is the most consistent difference theauthor found between those who are successful with thedifficult species and those who are not. One hobbyistrelated, "I don't keep P. quadridichotomwn or P.madagascariense anymore, I have killed too many of them,11

and later said, "My place is the Fungus Capital of theWorld."

-16-

1. Preventing fungus probl!2!Tls-

Assume that any plant just rc'ce1vcd from across thecountry, across the ocean, or as a freshly cut pup, hassustained enough damage that fungus can start in it.Treat it with a spray or soaking of fungicide. Thenwatch it daily for any of the problems described in 3helow. Once 8 plant is established, oven1atering is thesingle most common calise of Cungus probl!21T1s.

Rut even if fungus does not seem to be a problem,regular fungie ide treatment s, rotating among scvl:raltypes, are important since fungicides as a group tend toonly control the growth of fWlgi rather than kill them.

2. Buying fungicides-

Unfortunately fungicides have many names. The commonname is what the active ingredient is called on thelabel, the trade name is a regist!2red name for thatingredi!2nt, and the product name is what the companydecides to call its product. Sometimes the names ar!2similar, hut often they ar!2 very different. Here th!2common name 1;.]i11 be used, but the first time it is used,

trade names \1ill 1)12 given immediately after it. Productnames will be given only for f.ungicides that ITlay behard for the hobbyist to locate. Reading the activeingredients is essential when buying fungicid!2s.

The 1;,later molds in the genera Pzdh-L-um and rhutonhL,hm'Clv I~ L

are r!2sponsible for many of the fungus problems onP(jtyeCI'1~1).Jr,;. Ethazo 1 (Truban) and etha:wl plusthiophanate methyl (I3,'mrot) are recommended for them.Metalaxyl (Subdue 2E), is a relatively n!2W systemicfungicide particularly good against water molds. It iscurrently available only in expensive agriculturalquantities.

Of the commonly avai.lab1e fungicides, the author andothers have used Benomyl (Benlate); chlorothalonil(Daeonil 2787), captan) folpet (Phaltan) , and man!2b(Diathane M-22 Special) without problems.

Zinc ion plus maneb complex is more conli1lonly known bythe trade names Diathane M-45 and Nanzate 200. It is

often recommended, but not easy for the hobbyist toobtain.

-17-

~lany other fungicides are availahle, hm.Jever they areoften for treatment of specific fungi on specificplants. Little is known about how effective they areon the fungi of staghorns. Also, fungus problems tendto be different in different localities, so if thereare persistent fungi, it is best to both experiment\.\'1 tll other fungicJdcs, and give s'amplcs of the fungustll the state agencies that can help.

3. Recognizing and treating fungus problems-

This is practically an art. However, fungus problemscan be divided into leaf fungus and rots.

a. Leaf fungus-J"caf fungus is a proble.m in localities with hot, humid,and ,vel summers. It mainly damages fertile fronds.The advancing edge of the fungus is often yellowjsh, butthe main fungus is brown or black. Benomyl controls manytypes of leaf fungus. What it does not control,chlorothalonil generally does. Air circulation is alsoan enemy of leaf fungus. Putting plants in front of afan for a couple of days will dry fungus.

b. Rols-Rots are a very different problem. They are mostCOTIlmon on shield fronds.* The tissue turns bro\.ffi orblack and often has a semi-transparent look before itdies and dries up. Normal frond dying, described in (3)belmv, can look the same, hut advances slowly. Hhennot certain if the dying is moving fast enough to berot, put a mark 6n the frond at the edge of the green.If the next dny the dying edge has moved two mm (1/8inch) or more into wha t l.Jas green the day befo re, it isrot. The rot situation is an emergency. Fast and drasticaction is required. Control of rot is difficult becausethere are at least two types.

(1). Fungus rot-There is no way to tell fungus rot from bacterialrot except by its response to fungicides. Try ageneral fungicide, benomyl, ethazol, chlorothalonil,or captan, and do all possible to get the fungicide

*Rots may also start onthey show at the bud its taghorn. They providefungicides even thoughto avoid overwatering.

the rhizome, but by the timeis usually too late to save the

another reason to treat withfungus may not be visible, and

-18-

into the very area where the rot is advancing.spreader-sticker, and even poke little pinholesthe tissue that is no longer green, but not yetso the fungicide will reach the cells inside.

Useintodry,

(2). Bacterial rot-If fungicide does not stop the advance of the rot,then assume it is caused by bacteria. Antibioticsare available in soluhle forms from feed stores.Terramycin is broad spectrum and inexpensive. Whenused at one teaspoon per gallon, with spreader-stickerit gives good results. Make a few pinhol.es, as forfungus rot. Other antibiotics are readily available.

However, if the rot still advances quickly afterbeing treated with both fungicide and antibiotic,it must be triinmed out. Use a razor blade and make onelong sweeping cut through good green frond ahead of

----'"

Fig. 15Rot, in the shield frond of P. elephantotis, advancingtoward the bud.

-19-

the rot and throw all the rotted area away. The cutgreen edge should be treated with fungicide andallowed to dry quickly.

(3). Normal frond dying-

In the late summer and through the fall severalspecies of Platycerium normally allow their shieldfronds to die and turn brown. P. stemaria truly killsits shield fronds and P. elephantotis may look aterrible mess.

This dying starts next to the bud and moves out,sometimes along the veins. Fungus rots and bacterialrots usually start at the edge of the shield and moverapidly toward the bud, or spread from a point ofinjury.

When uncertain, it does no harm to treat normal fronddying as though it were rot. It does not respond, andmoves on slowly.

Fig. 16Normal shield frond dying in P. alcicorne,starting at the bud and advancing towardthe edge. The light part of the shieldis waxy and yellow green. The dark partis brown.

-20-

IV. The staghorn needs fertilizer

Plants need nutrients. Watering washes nutrients away, whichmust be replaced. A standard fertiJ.izer is Peter's 20-20-20,half strength during the spring, summer, and fall, andquarter strength in the winter. Too much fertilizer makesthe fertile fronds very dark green, thick, tender and maycause the wide frond cultivars of P. hillii to show cracks ortears. Spraying the 20-20-20 along with the pesticides, asdescribed below, gives the fronds nutrients. Pour somefertilizer solution through the sphagnum moss also.

Lack of iron (or too much sun) will cause yellowing of thefertile fronds. Chelated iron solutions are available. Fewgrowers concern themselves with trace elements. There seemsto be enough impurities in fertilizers to take care of thetrace elements. However, Jerry Horne, a Niami nurseryman whosuccessfully grows all Platyceriu~ species, recommends theuse of trace element compounds, according to labeldirections.

V. Staghorns need water

A. Water quality

1. Hardness:The harder the water the more deposits it will leave on mossand shields. These deposits also form on the roots andinterfere with their function. Lowering the pH, describedbelow, is a method of making hard water usable because atpH 5.5 to 6.0, little hardness is retained by the roots ormoss ..",

2. pH:Checking the pH of water tells how acid or alkaline it is.The lower the pH, the more acid it is, the higher the pH themore alkaline it is. At pH 7.0 it is neutral. The scale islogarit~nic, meaning 5.0 is ten times as acid as 6.0, 4.0 tentimes as acid as s.D, so 4.0 is 100 tines as acid as 6.0.

*The author's shallow well gives very hard water, 66 grains,So the only prac tical 'I;<.'a t er source is the rain. Hi th only 18em. (7 inches) per year, it is necessary to save rainlvaterin a group of used aquaria. A home-made automatic lvateringsystem pumps it from this reservoir through plastic tubing tothe ferns. Fertilizer is mixed into the water reservoir andthe automatic feature makes even vacations possible withoutasking someone to water the collection.

-21-

It is measured with papers that change color. Sinceslightly acid, 6.5, is considered ideal for watering andmixing sprays, a pH paper which reads between 4.5 and 7.5is ideal. This paper is usually available in rolls at drugstores. Biological supply companies carry many pH papers.

Lowering pH can be done with vinegar, acetic acid, orphosphodc aela. Acids sold toJith plumbing suppLLes may 1)eused, but they tend to be highly concentrated, dangerouschemicals. l<Jhen lm.;rering pH the ruJ e is, add acid TO \Vater,add the more dense to the less dense.

Raising pH is most often done by adding baking soda, butthis tends to form deposits on the shield fronds later.

If there are no problems due to pH, it is best to notadjust it. Rainwater here is about pH 5.5, rather acid,but the P[:ltyceY'1~W?1 take it fine. The pH of city tvater tendsto be rather constant, so it needs checking only rarely.

B. hlater amount

Hany plants are killed by ovenvatering. Those speciessensitive to overwatering are noted in Chapter 4.species can do well on far less water than most growersparticularly in the winter. During the growing seasonsphagnum moss should be moist but not wet, duringwinter, barely moist.

truly1'Iostuse,

thethe

New moss tends to dry out quickly on the surface and thenwater runs off it rather than entering.* Completelysubmersing the staghorn in a tub of water assures that \·;atergets to all roots, but it may transfer pests from plant toplant.

How to keep the proper moisture 1S a problem that must besolved for each 10catio!1. No plant roots will grow throughdry material. Since the buds for pups form from the roots,if the outside of the sphagnum moss is always dry, no pupsform. The moisture level in a little pad of sphagnum isharder to control than in a bigger one. Fungus problems areoften caused by overwatering. A dark green coating of algaeover the moss is a sign of too much water.

*Wetting agents, such as Aqua Gro, help solve this problem.

-22-

C. Water temperature

Water from pipes located in exposed places can giveroots quite a chill in the winter, and a scalding insummer. This can be a mysterious cause of problems?l(l t:yce Yl-i-1un.

VII. The staghorn must have the proper environment-

A. Light

thethe

,·::L th

When in low light many staghorns produce long dark greenfertile fronds, referred to as 'soft growth.' Their weightalone may cause them to hang down, but when given morelight the same plants grow their fronds shorter, stifferand upright. Suggestions for the different species arein Chapter 4.

The shape and surface of the fertile frond can he clues tothe plant's light requirements. A covering of OBlrsprotects the surface [rom intense light, and helps reducewater loss. It is the cause of the grey-green leaves ofmany desert plants. PZatycer~1~ with this covering requirehigher light conditions than those that are nearly n::lkedand dark green. Karrow leaves allow nweh of the availablelight to pass by them, and they lose thei,r excess heatfaster because they have a greater surface-to-volume ratiothan wide leaves. So, when two staghorns are received,one with narrow fuzzy fertile fronds, and the other withwide dark green fertile fronds, the first should be given abrighter location than the other.

A shiny, waxy coating on the fertile fronds is anotheradaptation ,vhich prevents ,vater loss under high Light.PlatuC:i?.1'iwr! alciccrn.B and P. eZliE!:>~ both have it. Because

"of its narrower fertile fronds, P. alcicorne should be ableto take higher light than P. ellisii, which seems to be thecase. In Niami, P. aZcicexI'r2e does "'Tell in full sun, butP. elZisii requires some shading.

,"In this book,ASA 25 speedmeans 1/25 at

high .Light level means takingfilm, at 1/50 and f 5.6, and.f 4.0 \vith the same film.

-23-

a photo "~,I th101,; light level

Fig. 17

P. alcicome thriving in full sun in a yard inMiami. The central support is a treefern pole.The hat is for size.

-24-

Fig. 18

P. veitchii cv. Lemoinei

grown under low light

conditions. The fertile

fronds are long and only

the young smaller ones

can support their own

weight in an upright

position. There are no

spore patches.

Fig. 19

P. veitchii cv. Lemoinei

grown under high light

conditions. The fertile

fronds are shorter and

upright. There are many

spore patches. Not only

is it the same cultivar

as above, it is the same

plant, 18 months later.

-25-

Light level has profound effects on spore production. Asall example, my greenhouse has two main light sources, theroof, which slopes slightly to the north, and the southwall. In the summer much light comes through the roof,little through the south wall. In the winter, much lightcomes through the south wall, little through the roof.Staghorns hanging near the roof produce fertile fronds withspore patches in the surrnner but \.lithout spore patches i,nthe winter. Staghorns hanging next to the south window formspore patches in the winter, none in the summer. Ifstaghorns do not form spore patches, increasing the lightmay start them.

B. Temperature

Most staghorns do not do well with long periods over 35degrees C (95 0 F). Most growers do not keep plants nearthei.r minimum temperature. The practice is to play it safe,particularly with growers just starting with staghorns.Most who have kept staghorns for years are l.ess afraidof short periods of low temperatures. Jerry Horne says allPZ(JtyeeY'iurn species can take down to 4.4 degrees C (!~Oo F).The lowest temperature staghorns can take is very dependenton the amount of moisture in the plants and the air. It isnot knm'lIl if cool temperature during dormancy is benef icial.

C. Air circulation

Staghorns generally benefitWith difficult species, airdifference between success and

D. Humidity

from good aircirculation

failure.

circulation.could be the

The general rule is over 50%. If thismisting staghorns helps them greatly.fertilizer to misting solutions.

is nott-'lany

possible,gro~,;rers add

VIII. Chemicals must be applied to staghorns properly-

A. Nixing

Sprays should be used as soon as mixed. Mix only what isneeded, or use the extra on some outdoor plants.

-26-

error in a large batch of spray does notconcentration much but a small measurement

mixing only a half gallon of spray can burnMeasure very carefully.

A measuringchange theerror whenstaghorns.

New sprays are best first tried on test plants. A youngP. stemaria is a good choice. Better lose it than an entirecollection of Platyeerium.

amounts for everylabel each mixingerror so greatly

will be made whichHang a chart withwhere it will not

the amount to use

It is impossible to remember the mixingspray. Calculating the amounts from thetime increases the chance of making anthat it is nearly certain eventually onewill do great damage to the collection.the names of the sprays used, someplacebe damaged, and write next to each namewhen mixing.

It is also impossible to remember which sprayswhat dates for a whole year. It is importantcalendar record of spray applications.

were used onto keep a

B. Additives

Spreader-sticker is to help the spray stay on the fronds.One teaspoon per gallon (5 mL per 3.785 L) of Physal 20,a commercial sanitizer, is recommended because it not onlyacts as a spreader-sticker, it helps control algae andfungi. A few drops of mild liquid dishwashing detergentwill work but is not as good.

Five drops per gallon of Superthrive helps root growth,which gives sturdier plants. Superthrive is also usedfor soaking newly received staghorns if they arrive in poorcondition.

C. Combinations

It saves time to mix insecticide, fungicide, food,Superthrive, and spreader-sticker as one solution andspray it as a single spray, about every 10 days or 2 weeks.Jerry Horne has done this for years; some others adviseagainst it. Truban fungicide should not be mixed withinsecticides.

-27-

This chapter has dealt with a great number of topics, each apart of cultivating PZatyceriu~. They may seem complex, buttheir application becomes routine. The larger the Platyceriumcollection, or the more species it contains, the moreimportant it becomes to keep track of the variables discussedhere, and apply the methods for keeping them under control.

All the items in this chapter can be combined into onecomment: use good horticultural techniques. Become lax andthe plants suffer. All species of PZatyceriu~ can be grown bythe person willing to use good horticultural techniques.

For additional reading-

Chase, R. A., Diagnosis of Foliage Plant Diseases, Universityof Florida, IFAS Agricultural Research Center-Apopka ARC-AResearch Report RH-82-8 1982. An article from a talk, hasfour tables, two of s)~ptoms, two which compare fungicidesused as sprays and soil drenches. Loaned to this author,difficult to locate.

Franks, Wendy, PlatyceriuID Fern Facts, Los Angeles, California1975. An informative book~ published by its author.

Hoshizaki, Barbara Joe, Fern Growers Manual, Alfred A. Kampf,New York, 1975. The standard classic.

Hughes, Ralph H., Cold Hardiness Zones for Staghorn Ferns inFlorida. Rhizome Reporter, 1982, 9(1) :6-8 An interestingand careful study of Platycerium grown outside in 4 zones,commented on by Chris Goudey, Rhizome Reporter, 1982, 9(3):17-20.

Mickel, John, and Fiore, Evelyn, The Horne Gardner's Book ofFerns, Holt Reinhart and Winston, 1979

Simone, Gary W., Fungicides for Use on Ornamentals 1983-1984,Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Circular 484-A,University of Florida, Gainsville, 1983. Contains chartsof plants, their fungus diseases, and what fungicides touse. The only fern is Leatherleaf Fern. In the back areaddresses of chemical manufacturers.

-28-

Fig. 20

A young P..hoZi;i;urn·il:~ ravaged by rot 'i:Jhich started inminor shipping damage, before the author learned ofusing antibiotics against rots.

Fig. 21

Part of the shield frondof }?~ ...?Ze-::·r~(;-;~tclt·~~,,~-!y eclter1by a sOIv'bug.

\.

iI

~ /"\.;j.

i '\ I ! I

1J ! oj

)J

\\

. "

~, ;;:

"",',", 'r', \.I~::: ~ ~\

~\~~\ '!~;\\\\ \"\ .. \, \ \..

." \ ...

\. \, \',,:,\,.. \ \\\., ",\ : ",:'\. \ \,\) \, \\, II ., \. I

J v"

';".-.-".

\\1

\ '1

f,,"~}'Y~~;;C\\~:.: ". - ~

\I

/\j

P andinum

-30-

CHAPTER THREE: Propagation

Flatyc:eY'~i:~!)Ti are propagated in three ways; tissue cuI ture:,pups, and spore culture.

A. Tissue Culture-

nucleus of each living cellof the genes necessary togene'sets of one plant are

conditions, any of a plaut'sgrow into a \-.1hole plant. The

genetically identical to the

Tissue culture works because theof the plant has a complete setform the whole plant. All theidentical, so, under the properliving cells should be able toresulting plants should bestarting plant.

Laboratory culture of plants from single cells began in theearly 1960's. Now the laboratories are major suppliers ofplants for the nursery trade. However, starting with only onecell is not necessary. Typically a group of cells called anexplant is removed from the parent plant and surfacesterilized. Imen placed on the proper medium it can be grm,;rninto a lump of cells called a callus. The callus can bemaintained inclefinately or can be caused to grmv buds \.,Thichare cut from it. These are grown in the lab, then transferredto soil. The total process does not take less time than otherpropagation methods, but once the callus is formed, largequantities of identical plants can be produced 111 a smalllaboratory.

Since PZat:H':C1"·iv:Ir: are a very minor part of tbe nursery trade,only a fe\v labs, mostly in Californin, tissue cuI ture them.

Platyceriwn bifurcatum cv. Netherlands, P. veitchii cv.Lemoinei, (-' . .7r£IZ-£-i cv. Pumila, c:md F. Buper2:;'wn are the mainsubjects of current tissue culture efforts.

It was discovered pup-forming PlatyceriiATr! can be tissuecultured very simply. Futting plantlets from test tubes intoa chopping blender for fi.ve seconds resulted in many pieceswhich themselves ';vould gro\V into ne\,;r plants. This cut thelabor cost for producing PZrrtyccY'z:wn greatly. NOIv one largelaboratory could cover the eartb with Platyceri&~m.

-31-

Fig. 22

A bench of tissuecultured P. hilliicv. Pumila growingpotted until puton plaques.Porter's Tropicals

However, some dealers and hobbyists take a dim view of tissueculturing Platycerium. They contend that tissue culturedplants are so conditioned to the sterile laboratory that theydo not last long outside it, and that the chemical controltheir genes have been through tends to make them growabnormally later. They also feel that many who bought theinexpensive tissue cultured Platycerium had bad experienceswith them, which resulted in a general decrease of interestin staghorns. But those who sell tissue cultured Platyceriumclaim they grow normally, that they have the same genes fordisease resistance as those not grown in the lab, and thatproducing them any other way is so labor intensive theirprice would be more than the hobbyist would pay, meaningthey could not carry Platycerium at all.

-32-

The result is, thehave tissue culturedmore casual, backyardand sporelings. Theculturing Piatyceriu~

B. Pups-

large competitive production nurseriesDl' . . f"'- aDycer-z,.um l' any, and the smaller,

specialty nurseries have pups, imports,final word on the value of tissueis not in yet.

Of the pup-forming species, all but F. COl"OYI0T'Lum

from the tips of roots which reach the surface.show as tinv buds.

form pupsPups first

Removing pups~

The most common mistake is removing the pup when too small.The pup should have shields at least 1/4 the size of theparentIs before removal. Use a sharp knife, cut hack intothe moss and take out the pup with a good start of roots. Putsome Ile\~' moss in the hole, so the next set of shields fromthe parent plant can cover it.

It is almost always necessary to cut the shield of the parentplant when removing a pup. There are less chances forinfect ions if the shields are brmV1l and uead. If greenshields must be cut, spray fungicide on the cut edge, andlet it dry quickly.

The pup is usually at home on its ow"I1 plaque, but if thereare severa] very small pups, mounting allan the same plaquemakes it easier to control moisture in their moss. Atreatment with Superthrive or Vitamin Bl helps their rootsform.

Saving every pup is not practical. Some buds may have to beremoved so others can develop normnlly.

Of the common species that form pups easily from their roots,the author finds t has e of F'. e Zephantotis the ha rc1es t toremove successfully. It is particularly important for thepups of this species to become fairly mature before beingremoved.

Increasing pup formation-Al though it defaces the plant some, gro'",ers ,V"ho ,-'!ant toencourage pup formation will take a screwdriver and poke holesthrough the shields all the way to the plaque to providepath'~'ays ror the roots to grm,'! to the surface and ronr, pups.It works.

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Fig. 23 (above)

The hole left when a pup was removedfrom P. andinum is filled with moss,held in place by wires.

Fig. 24 (left)

The same P. andinum the next spring.The shields have died and pups areforming along their edge.

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The amount of moss available has an effect on pup formation.On a plaque with extra moss, pups can form around the edge.In a basket only 6 to 8 cm.(2 to 3 inches) wide, pups tend tocome quickly out the back.

C. spore culture

It is usually five to ten years from the day Platyceriumspores are put down to the day spores are collected from thenew plants. Although this is a long time, spore culturewidens the hobbyist's understanding and appreciation for theseferns. It is an interesting process.

Some species can only be grown from spore. Having spore-grownP. grande~ P. holttumii) P. wallichii J or P. ridleyi can maketrading very easy. Plus the truly exotic new cultivars willno doubt only come by selecting for specific traits amongsporelings over several generations.

There is not a single best spore culture method for everyone.However, in every culture the plants must go through the samestages, and the grower must provide the environment where theycan.

Fig. 25

The spore room of Porter's Tropicals, showing manyflats with glass covers.

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I. Environment:

A. LightSunlight is often used, with protection from overheating.Regular fluorescent tubes are used by many. Although lesslight is used very successfully, most directions indicateat least 100 foot candles (two 48 inch fluorescent tubesat 12 inches). No dark period is needed by the plants.

B. Growing mediumSince ?!'~atyceY"Li/'Jn will volun teer on the sides oftrees,rocks., and flower pots, the ferns themselves must not betoo particular. Most growers use equal parts of milledpeat moss and perlite, or milled sphagnum and perlite.Many use Jiffy-7 peat pellets. Others use peat moss withleafmold and sand, or loose potting mix and charcoal, orKitty Litter, or perlite alone. Mr. Cass used a boiledred brick.

C. HumidityThe rule is~ as high as possible for spore germination.This TIleans some sort of moist chamber, like a flat with aglass plate over it, a deep covered petri dish, a plasticglass inside a plastic bag, a plastic shoe box, or otherset-up.

D. TemperatureThe temperature range for mature plants works for sporeculture; however~ less fluctuation is safer.

E. Sterilization\--.7ithout sterilization of the medium, the author has alwayshad fungus growth. Some growers sterilize with pressurecooker, 20 Ibs at 20 minutes, or with dry heat in an oven,150 degrees C. (300 degrees F.) for 20 minutes. Microwavescan be used. Surfaces are sterilized with 10% Clorox andwashed with boiled water. Peat tends to not support fungusgrowth and may not need sterilization. As a general rule,sterilization is best.

II. Stages:

A. Getting sporesPZatl;.'c:c.t'iwn form spores inside sporangia, on large sporepatches. Hhen mature the sporangia push their way throll.gha layer of stellate hairs and turn brown, except inP. ~aZZic:hii where they stay green. The final stage isldhen the sporangium becomes mature and dry enough to popopen, throwing the spores into the air.

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Fig. 26

Microscope view ofthe sporangium ofP. wallichii> notyet open.

Fig. 27

Microscope view ofthe green sporesof P. wallichii.

All the sporangia in a sporepatch will be at about thesame stage, but it takes lOXto 20X magnification to besure what stage. If thesporangia are mature, thespore may be caught by:removing part of the frondand letting it dry in anenvelope, by laying thefertile frond spore patchdown on a piece of whitepaper where the spores willshow as brown dust, or byscraping the whole sporepatch off.

No matter how it is done,there will be a mixture ofspores, pieces of sporangia,and possibly stellate hairs.The spores may be separatedby moving the whole massaround carefully on a pieceof paper, or by strainingthem through #20 planktonmesh or nylon stockingmaterial. Sowing bothsporangia and spores works;the stellate hairs are bestremoved. Spores can besterilized with 10% Cloroxsolution in a jar, separatedfrom the Clorox solution ona coffee filter and washedwith boiled distilled water.After drying they are readyto sow.

-37-

B. Sowing sporesOften spores are put down too densely. One methodthe dry spores in a small jar, stretch nylonmaterial over the mouth, and shake the sporesmedium.

is to putpantyhoseonto the

The green spore of P. wallichii should be sown as soon aspossible after collection since green spores do not livelong. Most people sow spore in the fall, the season mostare available. Label every culture with name and date.

C. Green matOne short green filament is formed from each spore. Thisforms a green mat. Some growers transplant sections of thegreen mat which causes it to spread more. Usually thegreen mat forms quickly. In some cases it is not adistinct stage.

D. Prothallium or gametophyteFrom each green filament a flat, green, heart-shaped, 1cm(1/4 inch) tall, prothallium, or gametophyte may grow. Ithas half the gene number of the plant the spores weretaken from and its function is sexual reproduction.

The sperm of ferns must swim to the egg, which meanslittle droplets of water must be present.

Fig. 28

A mat of prothallia orgametophytes from sporeof P. ellisii~ growing ina glass dish. A plasticcover was removed for thephoto. This grower sprayedinsecticide onto the lowersurface of the plasticcover, only when insectswere seen. These were sownso thickly some should betransplanted.

-38-

Most growers transplant the prothallia, finding they growfaster with space between them, and that more green matwill develop where they were taken out. Usually prothalliashow from three weeks to three months after the spores aresown.

E. SporophyteThe young staghorn is called the sporophyte. It developsfrom the fertilized egg in the prothallium which thendies. All this is a gradual process. The first sporophytefronds may look nothing like the mature ones. Mostgrowers transplant the young sporophytes as soon as theyappear among the prothallia. As sporophytes are removedmore form. A crop of prothallia may produce sporophytes2 or 3 years. The young sporophytes, while still in themoist chamber, may pup very freely. P. ellisii even formspups from the edges of its sheld fronds.

Fig. 29

Left, a moist chamber formed by a deep petri dish. Insideis a Jiffy-7 peat pellet. Right, the peat pellet has beenremoved and set in the top of the dish. The staghorn,P. quadridichotomum~ has formed pups through the sides ofthe peat pellet.

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F. HardeningAs the sporophyte develops it must be gradually hardenedto conditions outside the moist chamber. This is the mostdifficult period in spore culture and there is no magicformula for doing it successfully. It takes weeks, notjust hours or days. The protective covering of the moistchamber is gradually taken away. Very young Platyceriumare often transferred to pots until large enough for theirmounting.

III Problems:

A. Algae and fungus growthBeginning sterilization of the medium should eliminatethese. Peat mixtures and peat pellets are relatively freeof algae and fungi. Excess light promotes algae growth,darkness favors fungus. For control, Banrot, or otherfungicides may be misted, or the plants may be moved awayfrom a large mass of fungi.

B. InsectsFungus gnats are considered the worst insect pest. Theyare tiny and look something like flies. Their larva stageis worm-like and can destroy the prothallia. Diazinon,free of petroleum distillates, can be used on theprothallia to kill these insects.

Fig. 30

Looking down onto aflat of sporelingsof P. ridleyi, atPorter's Tropicals.

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C. Growth problemsMost common of these is remaining in the prothalliumstage too long. The record seems to be six years. Thismay be due to the sperm not being able to swim to theegg because there is not the water they need. Mistingshould solve this. One grower considers vitamin B1important to the change from pro thallium to sporophyteand mists with a concentration of one SOmg tablet in alitre (quart) of water.

Spore culture has been described here in detail, and mayseem complex. However, the most demanding part is making thebeginnng set-up. A simplified method would be: put a Jiffy-7peat pellet in a jar, pour boiling water over it. Then washthe spore with 10% Clorox, rinse them with boiled water, putthem on the pellet, seal the jar in a plastic bag with alabel. Leave it in a light place and watch it go through thestages until little plants that look like staghorns are welldeveloped. If no heart-shaped prothallia show in 3 months,start another culture, but don't throw the other one out fora year. No matter how it is done, there is a type of pride ina plant raised from a spore, a beginning that is onlyone cell.

-41-

for additional reading

Cooke, Ron C., 1979,Culture PropagationVol. 14(1) 21-22

Gmoser, Jerry, 1979, Aseptic. Spore Culture, LAIFS Journal,\'01. 6(4&5) 101-108, 135-142. T"TO part article on a veryproductive method for growing PZatycerit~.

Hoshi7.aki, Barbara Joe, 1979, Fern Growers Manuel, Alfred A.Knopf, NY. Pages 72 and 73 give instructions on how to crossferns, using the gametophyte stage.

Articles on topics in thi,s chapter appear regularly. The LAIrSBookstore has many short papers.

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------------------- _.-.-------

,

§

Tntroductton:

The spectes a [ the genus PZatycer'iu]T! are treated here tnalphabetical order. Their natural groupings are shown onpage 1. Changes in the taxonomy of P. L-n:fuY'catum proposed byHennipman and Roos, although they may best show the situationin nature, are not used here because the author feels they aretoo complex to become common in the hobby or the trade.However, they are noted with the species affected.

Maximum and minimum temperatures the different species cantake \",il1 vary greatly due to the amount of moisture in theplant, the amount of moisture in the air, and how actively theplant is growing. Hith the rare and expensive species, neitherhobbyists nor dealers are willing to subject their plants tounusual temperatures just to find their maximum and minimumtemperatures. Also, the temperature ranges in the naturalhabitats are not kno\VTI for all species. For these reasons,in this chapter temperatures are given only by how one speciescompares \.]i th another, ra ther than as specific numbers.

Other authors have listed small islands in the distributionsof Platyc(n~iwn. It is nearly impossible to verify thatPZatyceriurn are on small islands, or how they got there.Marcel Lecoufle checked "documents and vegetations" andconcluded the Flatyceriwn on La Reunion and Mauritius wereintroduced by early navigators. This author has tried forthree years l \,rithout success, to obtain Pla-tycer":wn from theSeychelles to verify that they are P. alcicorne. It seemedbest to include here only the major area of distribution foreach species.

Although different species of PlatyceYl~iwn require differenttreatments, there are no real "secrets ll to growing the exoticspecies. The best advice was given at the end of Chapter 2:"use good horticultural techniques."

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Platycerium alcicorne

(al-ci-corn-e)

The correct species name for P. alcicorne has been thesubject of disagreement between C. V. Morton and G. J.De Joncheere. Morton has passed away, and De Joncheere'sposition has been adopted by E. Hennipman and M. C. Roos.There seems to be no botanist convinced that the nameP. vassei~ as Morton contended, should be used in place ofthe name P. alcicorne.

The plants in the U. S. trade fall into two groups. The morecommon are those from Africa, the less common those fromMadagascar. The African plants have a very characteristicyellow-green color, and are waxy with nearly no hairs. Theirshield fronds turn rich brown when they die. They have beenpictured on pages 20 and 24.

The Madagascar plants tend to be dark green, with many hairs.Some individuals have fertile fronds that are dark green ontop, and on the underside nearly white with hairs. Theirshields become nearly black when dead. The Madagascar plantscharacteristically develop folds in the upper half of theshields, if given enough light.

Fig. 31

Folds in the upper half of theshield fronds of P. alcicornefrom Madagascar.

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Fig. 32

P. ,alcicorne.,Africa form ina basket. Eachfertile frondshows two orthree divisionsand often showsfolding at thecenter of thefirst division.

The Madagascar plants also divide into a form with widefertile fronds and a form with narrow fertile fronds. Theyoungest fertile fronds of both tend to be wide. The amountof light affects their width somewhat, but extremely narrowones tend to also have more pronounced veins on theirshields. The author has traced virtually all the narrow formsto importations from Marcel Lecoufle (See page 157).

Much of the Africa and Madagascar range of this species isnearly out of the tropics, which must be responsible for itsvery seasonal growth. Shields die in late summer, and aredark brown through the fall and winter. Much of the winterit is dormant. Water and fertilizer should be decreasedduring these months.

The Africa plants are somethat less tolerant of excess waterthan the Madagascar plants. The Africa plants also pup morefreely, but either eventually forms a cluster. Both types areslightly more sensitive to cold than P. bifurcatum.

Marcel Lecoufle's description and discussion of thisin about 1965 leads this author to conclude that theform was not in cultivation in Europe at that time.

speciesAfrican

This species offers no unusual problems in cultivation, andis both pretty and interesting.

-46-

Fig. 33 Fig. 34

Wide form of P. alcicornefrom Madagascar, viewedfrom above.

Narrow form of P. alcicornefrom Madagascar. The sporepatches show as well asfolds on the upper part ofthe shields.

Fig. 35

Remarkable simllarity of the youngfronds of P. alcicoY'ne. Left isthe Africa plant from Fig. 32,right, a Madagascar plant.

-47-

Fig. 36

The distribution of P. alcicorne in Africa and Madagascar.

Fig. 37

Small developing shield ofthe Madagascar P. alcicorne~

showing an extremely highnumber of black hairs.

-48-

PZatycerium andinum(an-DE-num) Named for the Andes Mountains

Common Name- American Staghorn

Fig. 38

PZatycerium andinum~ with pups.

PZatycerium andinum is adecidedly tall and slenderplant. In nature it issaid the fertile frondsbecome more than 2 meters(6 feet) long, but incultivation they tend tobe shorter. The shieldfronds have a rather even,medium dense coating ofhairs on both sides, butthe fertile fronds arecoated heavily with hairson the back side andlightly on the top. Thebud is obvious, and haslong, light green hairsaround it.

This species forms pups,but not freely, and it isnot a rapid grower. Alsoit tends to form shieldfronds in the early summerand fertile fronds laterin the season. The tipsof the fertile fronds maycontinue to grow evenafter the spore patch hasformed.

Among hobbyists P. andinum has a reputation as a strangeplant to grow. The author has seen groups all purchased atthe same time, when the same size, but with some growingvery well and others not. One Miami nursery cultivated manyfrom pups and considered it an easy species. Many feel it

-49-

Fig. 39

P. andinum bud area,the two large objectsin the bottom half ofthe photo are fertilefronds, above the budis the frilled edgeof a shield frond.

cannot take cool nights t however,Florida leaves P. andinum outsideconsiders this treatment a key tospecies. It may be P. andinum istemperatures than most Platycerium.

another nursery in southon cool windy nights andsuccessfully keeping themore sensitive to high

Jerry Horne recommended that those having difficulty with P.andinum should allow it to dry out more between waterings,particularly if it has a thick mass of shields. The author

Fig. 40

Two P. andinum~ the left tissue cultured, the right asporeling. Photographed at the same time, they did otherthings at the same time. They both grew right shieldfronds) then they both grew left shield fronds, then theyboth started fertile fronds, then they both died, of rhizomerot.

-50-

treats P. andinum much like P. eZephantotis giving it brightlight, a rather loose moss, evenly moist, but not wet. P.andinwn is particularly prone to rhizome rot when small. Itis easier to start with a large plant.

P. ancHnwit. is the only staghorn species found in theAmericas. Not much is known about its di~tribution exceptit lives on the eastern slope of the Andes, at elevati.onsaround 300 meters (1000 feet), in Peru and Bolivia. OnJ.y afew place names are in print. It has been imported fromIquitos, Peru, but those who imported it say Iquitos is onlythe shipping point for the fern, and many tropical fish, butnot the collecting point. Reports say it grows abundantly inisolated locations. In 1980 this author searched in Ecuador,from Limoncocha along the Rio Napa to Tena, for Platycc~iwn

and found none.

Its closest relatives are the African P eZepnanto~is, andthe Madagascar P. quadY'1:d~:chotorrrUJn. Hennipman and Roo sconsider it to be closer to P. quadr'idichotomu/';'G becausethe spore patch location of the two is similar.

P. andinu~ must be considered a somewhat difficult species.

BRAZI L

Fig. 41 The distribution of P andinu"'n.

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Platycerium bifurcatum

(bi-fur-CA-tum)

Common name: Common Staghorn

This species name comes from the word bifurcate which meansto divide or fork. It describes the branching shape of thefertile fronds. P. bifurcatum has generally narrow fertilefronds, upright with the ends hanging down. The tips of theshields are divided into lobes which are often pointed andextend forward. The shields are usually tan to brown duringthe spring and summer. New green shields form during thelate summer and fall. Fertile fronds remain green and formmost of the year. Each fertile frond lives two to threeyears.

Fig. 42

Two P. bifurcatum~ collected in Australia about750 km (500 miles) apart. The rule on the back ismarked in inches.

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Fig. 43

A natural variation ofthe shield fronds of aP. bifurcatum~ from thewild. This plant wasgrowing on a beefwoodtree, at the LamingtonNational Park, O'Reilly~

Botanical Garden, 920m.(3,000 feet) elevation,Queensland, Australia.Photo by Ralph Hughes.

Chances are the first PZatycerium a hobbyist owns will be acultivar of this species. In my case it was a P. bifurcatumcv. Netherlands, spotted in K Mart. Being a very tolerantspecies, starting with it nearly assures success, even ifonly its minimum cultural requirements are met. The mostcommon causes of death while in the care of the beginninghobbyist are: overwatering while the hobbyist is home takingcare of the plant, or drying out to the point of root damagewhile the hobbyist is away on vacation. Since much of itsnatural range is outside the tropics, this species can take alight frost, and is often grown outdoors in southern Floridaand coastal southern California.

P. bifurcatum forms pups easily. Giant baskets or balls of itare sold by nurseries in localities where they can be keptoutside. Eventually more plants will form than the hobbyistcould possible need. The solution often is to keep only oneor two large individual specimens of each desirable cultivarand limit their pup formation by removing the new buds.

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Fig. 44

Left: A basket of P. bifurcatum cv. Netherlands. The rhizome ofone has grown forward so far the plant could break loose.

Right: The plants in the basket were separated and put on plaques.Given time, this species will form more pups than thehobbyist could possibly need.

Fig. 45

Above, recently collectedP. bifurcatum. Right, sameplant one year later.

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In these single mountings, as the rhizome elongates and theshields pile up, the bud will gradually move forward to1;.;rhere the entire plant is in danger of coming loose andfalling to the ground. To prevent this crash it will benecessary every few years to remove the plant, trim back theshield frond mass, and attach it again with the bud movedback closer to the mounting.

Importation of P. bifupcatu~ is rare since its cultivars arebetter adapted to conditions in cultivation. F. o1: juY'catv..mis an easy species, a good choice for starting a PZatycepiL~

collection.

This species is called P. biFuY'catUJTibijuY'catvm by Hennipman and Roos.

i .. (.. I

spp. D&JuY'carwTi var.

23°27' S

Fig. 46

The distribution of P. D'if'u.J"::.;atumin Australia, mostly below theTropic of Capricorn (broken line).

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Platycerium coronarium

(cor-o-NAR-i-um)

Common name: Disk Staghorn

The species name meanscrown, describing theshape of the mature massof shields. Shield frondsof P. coronarium are lobedalong the top edge plusvery thick and corky whencompared to other speciesof staghorns. They may berather light green andwaxy.

The fertile fronds form along and twisted mass,with spore patches on theunderside of kidney-shapedlobes. These spore patcheshave been observed fallingout in one large mass. Thefunction of this is notknown, since it would seemsingle spores would bemore easily carried by thewind. The closest relativeto P. coronarium is P.ridleyi, the only otherstaghorn with a speciallobe for its spores.

Fig. 47

The tall lobed shield frondsof P. coronarium show wellon this cluster on the trunkof a palm tree. The sporelobes of the fertile frondsare larger than those oncultivated plants.

Photo by Jack Wood

P. coronarium is widely distributed through Vietnam, Burma,Thailand, Sumatera, Borneo and the Philippines. Franken andRoos reported in Sumatera it is very common in the lowerlevels of the swamp forests, where there may be little light.

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Fig. 48

A ball of P. CCJ'cnOY'?.-u.ri?

The estimated range ofP. cCT'onoY'iw?1, ThailandVietnam, Bangka, Borne~

Malay penins.ula, Burma,Philippines, Singapore,Riau Archipelago, .Java,from sea level to 500meters (1600 feet )elevation.

in a tree inThe [el~ti1e

of the youngestin the rightare shorter.

hangingMiami.frondsplants,side,

Fig. 49

ooo

This staghorn forms pupsdifferently from any otherspecies. The rhizome, backin the moss away from thebud, forms a branch whichgrows towards the sidewhere it comes to thesurface, becomes a bud andgrows into a pup. Thisbranching tends to be inthe same plane as theoriginal bud, making thebuds of the pups appear ina row, all about the samedistance above the ground.In nature this allows theplant to form a clusterwhich surrounds the treetrunk. In such clusters,the oldest plants have thelongest fertile fronds.

Fig. 50

Back of the shields of a newlyimported P. coronarium with adeveloping rhizome branch.The top parts of the shieldswere trimmed from the picture.

Some people plan ahead for this type of branching by mountingP. coronarium either in a ball, or locating it on a board sothe bud is below the bottom edge of the wood. Either wayprevents the rhizome branch from running into anything solid.

P. coronarium must be considered moderately difficult to growmainly because getting it truly established can be a problem.Many of those in the trade are imported from Thailand andmay have massive shield fronds, each over 1.5 em (1/2 inch)thick. These make it very easy to keep too much water in theplant, which invites rots and insects. Other difficultiesarise because the shields and fertile fronds are cut backgreatly before shipping to reduce weight. It is best to letthe importer establish the plant after such treatment.

In nature P. coronarium is nearly always ant-inhabited, whichmay mean it actually attracts insects. Natural light levelstend to be low, but occasional photographs show it in nearlyfull sun.

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Fig. 51 A P. coronarium with extremely wide fertile fronds,and another with extremely narrow fertile fronds.

-59-

Once established, P. coronarium tends to be a tough plantthat will live for a long time. Even then it can be killed byoverwatering. It stands cool temperatures best when dry, andis not a cold-hardy species.

A dwarf P. coronarium is reported, but collectors are not inagreement about its traits. Some say it has fewer hairs,others say it has shorter fertile fronds. However, shorterfertile fronds are characteristics of young' plants.,

Fig. 52 At the left a white, immature spore patch ofP. coronarium. At the right a brown, mature sporelobe, which has released its entire mass of spores.

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Fig. 53

A cluster of P. coronarium in a grove of palm trees. New plantshave formed by the rhizome branching to the side, which keepsthe new plants the same distance from the ground as the olderones, forming a ring of P. coronarium around the tree.

P. coronarium growing ona rubber tree. These twophotos, and Fig. 47, weretaken by Jack Wood alongthe road between Malaccaand Singapore, Malaysia.P. coronarium was theonly Platycerium specieshe found there. He alsonoted the P. coronariumgrowing where only littledebris could fall behindtheir shields, remainedsmall. Such small plantscould have caused reportsof a "dwarf" form of thisspecies.

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Platycerium ellisii

(el-LEE-see-eye)

Platycerium ellisii is very closely related to the Africanform of P. alcicorne. They have the same yellow-green color,waxy coating, and they both tend to grow round shield frondsin the spring and early summer, and fertile fronds during thelate summer and fall. In the fall their shield fronds beginturning a very dark brown near the center. (Pg. 20) The colorchange moves gradually to the edge. The fertile fronds ofP. ellisii are different from the African P. alcicorne inconsistantly being wide and divided into only two points neartheir tips.

The range of P. ellisii is restricted to Madagascar, whereasP. alcicorne is from both Africa and Madagascar. The personwho introduced P. ellisii into the U.S. has collected themoff mangroves at sea level along the central east coast ofMadagascar. Many of the mangrove stems they g"rew on were only1.5 em. (Yz inch) thick, and the shield fronds often hadspaces 2.5 ern. (1 inch) wide behind them. The function of thespaces is unknown.

Fig. 55

Typical P. ellisii.

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Fig. 56

Bud area of P. elZisiiwith the edges of someshields removed so thescales would show. Thenewest shield, comingfrom above, covers thebud, typical for thisspecies.

Fig. 57

Spore patch of P. ellisii.

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The natural habitat and structure of this plant combine tomake it something of a mystery. Its range must be very warmand humid. The leaves of mangroves are large and could shadeP. elZisii greatly. The fertile fronds of P. elZisii arewide, and require some shading. They also have waxy coating,which should help them retain water, but the thin shields andthe large air spaces between them limit the whole plant'sability to store water. This combination gives a plant whichdoes not lose much water through its fertile fronds, but doesnot store water well in its shields.

This unusual plant requires some unusual care. The rhizomeof P. ellisii grows upward quickly. Its roots are veryshallow and nearly all just below the bud. When the newestshields do not fully cover the older ones, the plant hasadvanced to where it probably has few roots in the moss. Itshould be removed and trimmed so the bud is again in thecenter of the mounting. Moss should be packed around therhizome and into the spaces between the shields, which meanssome of the shields will have to be dug away. When packedwith moss, and kept in a moist, warm, and bright location,P. eZlisii pups freely in mid-summer. Lack of pup formationis an indication a trim is needed. Trims may be necessary asoften as once a year. Due to its shallow roots, the authormuch prefers plaques to baskets for this species.

Fig. 58

The shield frond massof P. ellisii~ cut toshow the air spacesbetween them. Shieldscover the top of themoss.

-64-

There are reported to be three forms of P. ellisii; thestandard form, one that grows little divisions at the tips ofthe fertile fronds and has been called "diversifolium," and awide leaf form which can have fertile. fronds 20 cm (8 inches)across, and 86 cm. (34 inches) long.

Although not as simple to grow as P. bifurcatum~ P. ellisiiis not difficult, and makes a unique and interesting additionto a Platycerium collection.

Fig. 59

P. ellisii form called"diversifolium" whichhas extra tips on itsfertile fronds.

Fig. 60

Distribution of P. elZisii on Madagascar.

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Platycerium elephantotis

(elephan-TOE-tis)

Common Name: Angola Staghorn

The most striking feature ofthis species is its massivebright green group of shieldfronds, which grows so largeP. elephantotis is sometimescalled the lettuce staghorn.Its fertile fronds are long,very wide, hang down, andhave no notches or fingersalong the bottom edge. Theirlarge size has given itanother common name, theelephant's ear fern.

Growth of P. elephantotis isvery seasonal. Each springthe shields from the yearbefore die. The new shieldscan grow more erectly if thetops of the dead ones aretrimmed away. During thesummer it forms a new shieldfrond mass, and later itgrows fertile fronds.

Fig. 61

A young P. elephantotis~ aboutaverage shipping size. Thisplant is also pictured inFig. 62 b, and on page 19.

Its distribution is from coast to coast in central Africafrom 200 to 1500 meters (650 to 5000 feet) elevation. InUganda it is reported from 1500 meters elevation in themountains in large trees. In"East Africa Vegetation;' Lindand Morrison describe it as growing in the forest and alsocommon in trees in wooded grasslands, a drier environmentthan P. stemaria although their distributions are similar.

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a. c.

Fig. 62

-67-

Seasonal Growth

a. In the spring the shields ofP. elephantotis die and wilt.

tops of the oldare removed, the ne~

can grow upright.

When theshieldsshields

c. By early summer a new shielchas formed, and a second i~

developing.

b.

b.

Fig. 63

P. eZephantotis in mid-summer, with a newshields, starting the formation of fertileThis basket planting is about 1 meter (39tall.

set offronds.inches)

Fig. 64

P. elephantotis fromUganda shows shortershields, and fertilefronds that are long.It is somewhat lessprone to rots.

-68-

Many hobbyists have difficulty with P. elephantotis. Thespecies naturally occurs in very bright tropical locations,with high temperatures, and dry periods. It can wilt greatlyand recover completely. If kept wet, and under low light,rot can soon destroy it. Cool temperatures can give itproblems also. However, in a bright, warm place, and withprotection from rots, it becomes gorgeous and pups freely.The moss need not be particularly loose.

The author finds removingpups from P. elephantotis isparticularly difficult. Itseems important to let thepups become large beforeremoval, and to fight rot inthe edges of the cut shieldswith terramycin.

At this time this species issold as P. angolense~ butthere is general agreementamong taxonomists the nameshould be P. elephantotis.Hennipman and Roos considerP. wallichii the closestrelative of P. elephantotis.Barbara Joe Hoshizaki listedit closer to P. stemaria.

P. elephantotis is rarelygrown from spore, and doingso is reportedly difficult.Under ideal conditions, somesporelings will volunteer.

Fig. 6S

P. elephantotis bud area,with two fertile fronds.

There are said to be four forms ineither a different length or widthdifferent amount or color of hair.

-69-

cultivation, each withof fertile frond, or a

If the hobbyist combats rots which may start due to shippingdamage, and keeps P. eZeohantotis in a warm, bright location,it becomes large and different, lives many years, and is notCl d i f fieul t sneci "'S of P1 ""i-,;r'tFf' '!' w r1< ~ t t._ -'- {/ ......}~ v~. V ,...-'"" .... ~,... I ..." ~ ..

Fig. 66

P. elephantotis is found across equatorialAfrica, except in the Congo basin.

-70-

Platycerium grande

(gran-dE)

In 1970 Joncheere and Hennipman separated P. grande fromP. 8uperbum. Earlier both species were included with P.grande. They limited the name P. grande to the plants on thePhilippines, and gave the name P. 8uperbum to the plants inAustralia.

With either species the hobbyist is apt to be sold youngplants. Only when these plants become large enough to formfertile fronds do they show that the fertile fronds ofP. grande are divided into two large equal lobes, with aspore patch on each, and P. Buperbum has fertile fronds thatare not divided, and have one large spore patch each. Eventhen the separation is confused by some P. grande growingtheir first fertile frond undivided with only one sporepatch.

Fig. 67

P. grande grown from spore. Two photos of the same plant,taken on the same wall. The photo on the right was takensixteen months after the photo on the left. The smallerplaque was attached to the larger one.

-71-

A very large P. grande~

grown from spore by itsowner. The pencil onthe fertile frond is toshow size.

Spore patches ofsame P. grande.is a flash photounderneath.

Fig. 68

Fig. 69

( side)

(below)

theThisfrom

-72-

P. grande is native to the Philippines, mainly the island ofMendanao, from sea level on coconut trees, to 500 meters(1600 feet) in the forest. One collector told the author itis a sad area to visit because most of the land has beencleared by the slash-and-burn method and the forest simplydoes not return. Clearing is to make room for man, hiscities, and his crops. In this location the main crop is oilpalms.

P. grande is rare in the trade, but P. superbum is common.Some dealers do not accept the 1970 separation of the twoand sell the Australia plant as P. grande. The hobbyistsearching for P. grande should look for labels like, "TrueP. grande," "Philippine P. grande~" or lists which containboth species.

Spore culture of both is routine, so with some effortP. grande could become available. Now nearly all P. grandeare collected and imported.

P. grande is grown thesame as P. superbum~

except it is lesscold tolerant, butjust as prone to rotwith excess water asP. superbum. A fewpeople feel P. grandedoes not grow as largeas P. superbum~ butgiven proper care theyboth become giants.

Fig. 70

P. grande collected onMindanao, at sea levelnear Davao City. Thefertile fronds areuneven, like those ofP. holttumii. Inlater years it formedfertile fronds typicalfor P. grande.

-73-

Platycerium hillii

(hill-e-eye)

Cormnon name:Green Staghorn

This species is closelyrelated to P. bifurcatum.All types of intergradesbetween the two are foundamong the cultivars. Inits purest form P. hilliihas wide and deep greenfertile fronds with fewhairs. The shields arerounded along the topedge, without lobes oreven undulations. Theygrow back flat againstthe plaque, not forminga nest of debris likeP. bifurcatwn.

Fig. 71

A typical P. hillii~ grown fromspore.

The growth requirements for P. hillii are very similar tothose for P. bifurcatum. The natural range of P. hillii isquite limited, all in moist tropical lowland areas. However,it is not considered less cold hardy or less tolerant of dryperiods than P. bifurcatum.. Its wide fertile fronds sunburneasier than P. bifurcatum~ so lower light levels are best.P. hillii has less the tendancy to grow outward from themounting and falloff than P. bifurcatum. The tops of theshield fronds growing flat against the plaque can makewatering difficult. A plastic watering tube inserted in themoss early makes later watering more effective. Otherwise,P. hillii can be treated the same as P. bifurcatum.

P. hillii is easy to grow and popular. Hennipman and Rooslabel it P. bifurcatum spp. bifurcatum var. hillii.

-74-

Fig. 72

Distribution of p~ hilZiiin Aus tralia and on PapuaNew Guinea. The Papua NewGuinea part of its rangeis probably due to manintroducing it there.

-75-

------

PZatycerium hoZttumii

(holttum-e-eye)

Fig. 73

Tom Henrichs holdinga P. holttumii whichshows two fertilefronds, each with asmaller lobe that iselevated, and with alarger lobe thathangs down.

In the 1970 paper which separated P. grande and P. 8uperbum~

Joncheere and Hennipman described P. holttumii as a newspecies. It is named for Dr. R. E. Holttum, of Kew, England,author of IfA Revised Flora of Malaya, Vol. 2, Ferns, If andmany papers on ferns.

P. holttumii is closely related to P. grande~ P. superbum~

and P. ~andae. It differs from the first two by having

-76-

fertile fronds with two lobes, one smaller and elevated,the other larger and hanging down. Both lohes have sporepatchet>. It differs from P. 7.Jondcw by not having the littlepoints on the edges of the shield fronds around the bud.

In practice it can be very difficult to tell P. holttwniifrom P. c,)andae. Since their fertile fronds are about thesame shape, the little frills on the shields at the bud ofP. (0)ondae (Fig. 119) become the main distinguishing feature.In a P. !.tJandae "dth old shields, its little frills may dieback, causing it to look like F. hoZ-ttwrdi until newshields form.

It is also impossible to tell P. 2Y'01'[(1£;, P. i3upcr'fnlJti, andP. !wZtLvJrn>.: apart when small. The author was sent avolunteer sporeling by someone 1:vho claimed to be able todistinguish these species when small. The label read,liP. hottturnii volunteer. II A year later its identity becameobvious. Pretty little frills grew around the bud, frillsfound only in P. ~andae.

The author located three people who felt branching of therhizome occasionally happens in P. hoZ.ttumi~i. One shmved alarge buldge under the shields near the bud "Thich "Tasthought to be a rhizome branch growing trapped underneath.Another had a set of shields with a rhizome and bud vlhichhad fallen off a large plant, and was mounted as a separatenew plant. The third wrote of a P. ho?,ttv}?7ii~ pup.

Nearly all the P. hOZ.ttVJ(I":1~ in this country ,\Tere importedfrom Thailand. Its availability in the trade depends onwhen importations are made.

The author has lost t\vO P. hol!;turl'i'i"~~ one to rot "'hichstarted in minor shipping damage, and the other to its budbeing killed by insecticide. A friend lost a group oflarge sporelings to insecticide. Due to these experiences,the· advice here is to be cautious \Jith P. hoZti:uJm>i whenthese types of damages may occur. Certa~lly give it atreatment of terramycin after shipping, and avoid the budwhen using strong insecticides.

In nature P. hO?"tti..ilTrz:1: is from bright locations in monsoonforests. This indicates it should be given high light, andkept more mo is t during its growing season. P he Z. thi}T!i>icannot be expected to take the low temperatures given forP. 81.(DeY'bwn~ otherwise they may be treated the same.

-77-

Fig. 74

"P. holttumii Sporeling"In the early 1970's RobertOman, in Miami, received agroup of 50 small plantsfrom California, labeled,"P. holttumii sporelings."When mature their fertilefronds developed unusualshapes. Of the starting50, Puerto Rico received44. The offspring of oneof the others are now inthe trade as "GlasshouseWorks." Also see page 140.

Fig. 75

P. holttumii is found inCambodia, Laos, Vietnam,Malay Peninsula, and inThailand, from 0 to 700m.(0 to 2,200 ft.) It isfound in Thailand growingwith P. wallichii.

-78-

PZatycerium madagascariense

(madagascar-e-en-se)

This rare species hasshields like no otherPZatycerium. Their veinsform tall ridges whichsurround little valleys.The only other specieswith shields anythinglike this is P. ridZeyi~

but in it the ridges goto the edge of theshield without formingthe little valleys. Thetwo species are notclosely related.

Fig. 76

The distinctive pattern ofthe P. madagascariense shieldfrond.

New shields of P. madagascariense are thin and light green,but when mature they turn a rich, dark green which theyremain until covered by another shield. The shields cover thetop of the moss, and do not collect debris behind them. Thelittle valleys cause many spaces between the shields. Innature, these spaces are inhabited by ants, and the roots ofthe orchid CymbidieZZa rhodochiZa. Hennipman and Roos show aphoto of the orchid roots in page 62.

Under fluorescent lights the rhizome may grow 5 to 7 em (2 or3 inches) out from the roots before fertile fronds form. Inhigher light the rhizome is shorter. However, the rhizomeseventually become long in all P. madagascariense due to thespaces between the shields. As the new shields wrap around theold ones, the whole plant becomes ball-shaped.

Ant - inhabitedcultivation.insecticides,essential.

plants often attract other insects whenP. madagascariense is not easily damaged

so constant insect control is both feasible

-79-

inby

and

Fig. 78 (below)

Fig. 77

P. madagascariense inMarch, developing twofertile fronds. Thisspecies often growstwo fertile fronds atonce. The larger wasfirst visible at thebud in January. Inlate June the sporepatch was mature.

whentheThe(12

The same plant,first purchased,November before.plaque is 30 em.inches) wide.

-80-

High humidity, 60% or more, seems best. Some hobbyists haveput this species in humidity chambers, in one case underregular fluorescent light, and had it grow and pup. Mountingin a loose moss, or osmunda fiber, helps keep the roots frombeing constantly wet, which reduces problems with fungi androts. However, the shields are thin and have no water storagetissue, so the roots must be kept moist.

Temperature requirements are an area of confusion. Severalpeople feel it has trouble taking high temperatures, theexception being Jerry Horne, who grows it very successfully inMiami, outdoors, all summer, under 60% shadescreen, on asouth-facing wall. Also, during a winter when his plant housewas enclosed in plastic, to test their minimum temperature,he put three P. madagascariense outside, with some protectionfrom above, on a night the temperature went down to -1 degreeC (30 degrees F.). There was no damage of any kind.

Removal of pups is often notsuccessful, an indicationpups should be allowed tobecome rather large beforebeing cut off. Spore cultureis not considered unusuallydifficult. Sporophytes areallowed to become 2.5 cm.(1 inch) across before theyare transplanted. The othergametophytes seem to waittheir turn before formingsporophytes. One culture mayproduce sporophytes for twoyears.

-81-

Fig. 79

P. madagascariense fertilefrond with spore patch.

-82-

Fig. 81 (side)

The back of the growingshield above shows thereverse pattern, sincethe shields are thin.

(above)Fig. 80

P. madagascariense shieldfronds cover the top ofthe moss and soon givethe whole plant the shapeof a ball.

The longest the author hasheard of a P. madagascariensebeing kept alive is tenyears. This could be nearlyits life span, but that onewas lost to insect damage.Another, in a collection forsome years, was consumed bysnails while its owner wason vacation. One hobbyisthas taken P. madagascariensethe full cycle, gametophyte­sporophyte-spore-gametophyte,in about five years. If keptin high humidity, and freeof pests, P. madagascarienseis a beautiful PZatycerium.

230 27' S

Fig. 83

Fig. 82

New P. madagascariensepup, just visible inthe moss. Only the budand two tiny shieldshave developed.

The distribution of P. madagascariense> on Madagascar,is in the central moist forests, at elevations from300 to 700 m. (975 to 2,075 feet).

-83-

PZatycerium quadridichotomum

(quad-ra-di-cot-to-mum)

The species name describesthe fertile fronds whichoften branch the number oftimes it takes to formfour tips.

In P. quadridichotomum thefertile fronds hang down.Their edges are usuallywavy. Their upper surfacemay be hairy in brightlight. The lower surfaceis densly covered with tanhairs. The spore patch isdark brown, and locatedin the area of the secondfrond division, similar toP. andinum.

The shields are tall forsuch a small plant. Theyspread outward at the top,and show no lobes. Duringthe summer they tend to begreen. The shield numberformed varies greatly fromyear to year.

Fig. 84

Mature P. quadridichotomum>about 35 em. (13 inches)tall.

For the hobbyist this is probably the rarest and leastunderstood species of PZatycerium. Hennipman and Roos haveincreased greatly what is known about P. quadridichotomumin nature. Of the four species of PZatycerium on Madagascar,it is the only one which grows on the island's drier westernside. Scattered there are humid valleys where this speciesmust be native. Even in these valleys, there are dry periodswhich may last six months.

-84-

P. quadridichotomum lacksthick corky shields. Itsshields are more like thoseof P. stemaria. It seems tosurvive dry periods in adormant state, with shieldfronds dead and the fertilefronds rolled up lengthwiselike tubes. This puts theirprotected hairy undersidestowards the outside, anddecreases surface area. Likethis, the plants wait.

In cultivation, giving P.quadridichotomum these longdry periods is not done. Itis not clear if it actuallyrequires these periods, oris only able to survivethem. It is not prone toinsects like P. ridleyi andP. madagascariense. Warmtemperatures seem best. Itpups at an early age, butnot in great numbers. MarcelLec:oufle wrote it does wellunder the same conditions asCattleya orchids. Its sporeculture is not unusuallydifficult.

P. quadridichotomum is rare,small, unique, and a littleunderstood Platycerium.

-85-

Fig. 85

A very recently importedP. quadridichotomum. Theshields are dead, and thefertile fronds green. Thepen is to show size.

Fig. 86

Spore patch of the plantpicture above.

23 0 27' S

Fig. 87

The distribution of P. quadridichotomv.m on Madagascar.In the late 1960's Marcel Lecoufle wrote that collectorsin the area for several Heeks found none. It was called"locally common lt by Hennipman and Roos in 1982. Althoughin forests, it more often grows on limestome rocks thanon trees. No other PZatyceriu~ grows in this area.?)uadrid'z:':::"ho-{;om:.Arrl was first described in 1959.

-86-

88Fig.

The antler-like fertile frondsand distinctive shields show onthis young P. ridleyi grown ina plastic pot in a Californianursery.The tall ridges formed by

the veins on its shieldfronds run in continuouslines out to its edge. These ridges cause spaces between theshields. In nature ants pack these spaces with debris,leaving only the top 1/3 empty. The spaces between theshields cause the rhizome to be particularly long.

The fertile fronds of thisspecies, particularly whenyoung, bear such a greatresemblance to the antlersof a deer that "staghorn"fits it perfectly. Rarelya meter (39 inches) acrossthe fertile fronds, it isthe smallest Platyceriumthat reproduces only byspores.

(rid-Iee-eye)

Named for J. Ridley authorof "Ferns of The MalayPeninsula."

Platycerium ridleyi

The spore patch forms on the underside of spoon-shaped lobes.The only other staghorn to do this is its closest relative,P. coronarium. Like P. coronarium~ the spores of P. ridleyitend to be released in one mass.

Franken and Roos in Sumatera observed P. ridleyi on treesalong rivers and streams, and also common on the emergentswamp forest trees, on branches more than 25 meters (80 feet)above the ground. Collection from such heights is difficult.However, due to man's clearing of the land, it has becomeextinct in Singapore. At this time it is almost neverimported. Most of the plants now in the trade are grown fromspore in southern California

-87-

Fig. 89

Two large spore lobes on a mature P. ridleyiin Miami. The shields are tan and shiny.The plaque is made of many small boards withgaps between them.

Fig. 90

The bud area of a youngP. ridleyi with a tinyshield frond starting.

-88-

shieldsbreakingcutting

Both the narrow fertile fronds and natural habitat ofP. Y'idZe'tJi suggest it should have bright light. The airmovement it receives high in the trees must be nearly thebest in the forest. Some hobbyists feel air movement is animportant key to keeping it successfully. Most agree onloose, rather open muss. P. ridleyi should not be expected totolerate cool temperatures. Insects, slugs, and snails aredefinitely problems on this ant-inhabited species. There isgeneral agreement that P. ridZeyi attracts insects. Rhizomerot as well has claimed many young plants.

Spore collection shows no specific difficulty, other thancatching the spore patch as it is released. Sporeling growthrate information varies from those who consider it the veryfastest Platycerivffi~ to those with plants barely 3 em. (1 ~

inches) tall, that are five years old. The differences areprobably due to variations in levels of both light andfertilizer, the small five year old ones receiving the mostlight and least fertilizer. The sporelings have a tendencyto form elongated rhizomes and few roots, so vitamin Bltreatments may be very important to them. Losses are heavywhen the young sporophytes are transplanted, and amongquickly gro1;vn, soft plants.

lJith a PlatyceyJiWTi that remains fairly small, and producesno pups, there is a question of the plant's natural lifespan.For P. ridleyi this could be between 10 and 15 years. Ifthis is true, the hobbyist should not expect to keep onelonger.

As P. ridleyi gets older, the spaces between thecause the rhizome to become long. The danger of itincreases. It is not known if P. r.idleyi can surviveback like is done with P. 8uperbu'Ti. (Pg. 98, Fig. 102)

The author has lost more young P. ridleyi than any otherPZatyceY'1.:-vffi. They tend to have particularly long rhizomeswhich often break during shipping. This is fatal. Their youngfertile fronds are tender and generally arrive damaged, so awhole ne1;", set must form for the plant to survive. Or, theold fertile fronds may die back faster than new ones areformed, so the whole plant is gradually lost.

-89-

In many southern California collections P. ridleyi is kept on

its back, in treefern or plastic pots. In other arens i.t is

plaqued like other Platycerivxl. Kept free of insects and

rots, the author has seen many P. ridleyi establish and

become beautiful specimens.

Q

Fig. 91

The range of P. ridZeyi includes

Surnatera, Malay Peninsula, and

parts of Borneo.

-90-

lobes divides onceeach fertile frond,its division. When

92Fig.

A single P. stemaria on a basket.When young this plant grew fertilefronds with single ultimate tips.Three years later some tips hadeight points.

This is the third Africanspecies of Platycerium.Its shields are tall,wide, and wavy at the top.They tend to be thin, andhave spaces between them,where debris collects.

Common Name:Triangle Staghorn

The wide fertile frondsare often shiny on theupper surface, and quitehairy on the underneath.Even on the same plant thefertile fronds show greatvariety in length, and howmany ultimate tips theyhave, but all show a maindivision into two lobes and each of theseagain. There are two spore patches onone on each main lobe, in the area ofmature the spore patches are dark brown.

PZatycerium stemaria

Although in some locations P. stemaria and P. elephantotisoccur together, P. stemaria generally is from more moist placesthan P. eZephantotis. P. stemaria is nearly always found ontrees, and may form clusters high above the ground, in somesun, but more often in shade.

Some hobbyists have difficulty with P. stemaria. When givenlow light and kept quite moist, it forms lush, dark greenfertile fronds and tall shields. This is how the author treatsit. Under these conditions, the spore patch remains tan anddoes not mature. When given higher light the fertile frondsform more hair on their upper surface, and the spore patchesmature to their typical dark brown.

-91-

Fig. 93

Bud area of P. stemariastarting. Shields arewhite when tiny.

with a shieldtypically pure

Fig. 94

A cluster of P. stemaria.patches show on the endsfar right.

The very dark sporeof the frond at the

-92-

An imported P. stemariawith very long fertilefronds, and a spore patch.

P. stemaria forms pups fairlyeasily in the most muist partsof the moss. It is almostnever grown from spore. Ifaccidentally allowed to dry, itwilts tremendously, but usuallyrecovers fully. The tips andedges of its fertile frondsare burned more easily byinsecticides than any otherPtatycerium> making extra pupsof P. stemaria useful fortesting sprays.

Fertile fronds form at anytime of the year, but shieldsare seasonal. In late-summershields are green. In the fallthey change to brown.

In most Platycerium speciesthe shields gradually die andturn brown, but P. stemaria isunique to watch because theshields die very quickly.

Some people feel this speciesshould never have temperaturesbelow 100 c. (500 F.).

Fig. 95

The wide tops of the shields, and large fertile fronds makethis species easily damaged by wind. When kept outdoors, aprotected location is best.

P. stemarialocations.plaque.

isIf

akept

pretty Platycerium> ideal formoist, it fills a basket or

-93-

low lightcovers a

Fig. 96

P. stemaria shields dieso quickly it may seemthey have rot. The darkis brown, next to it isyellow, and at the leftcorners of the picturethe shield is stillgreen.

Fig. 98

An unusual P. stemaria found insome collections in the San DiegoCalifornia area.

Fig. 97

P. stemaria cv. Hawks,probably from the HawksNursery in southernCalifornia. In 1964Barbara Joe showed adrawing of P. stemariavar. laurentii. It isnot in collections inthis country.

-94-

Fig. 99

P. stemaria grows in central and westerntropical Africa~ and islands off thewest coast, at elevations from ° to 1,000meters (0 to 3,250 feet).

-95-

Platycerium 8uperbum

Common Name:Giant Staghorn

Here is the grand solitaryPlatycerium of QueenslandAustralia. Its shields aredeeply lobed and may reach1.3 meters (4 feet) tall.Their upper edges extendforward. Behind them is abasket-like space whichcollects debris and water.Before a shield dies it iscovered by a new greenone. Old shields curl backinto the basket.

Young plants form shieldsonly, one growing towardthe right, the next towardthe left, two to four peryear. The new shields growbeautifully as they appearto roll back against theolder ones. Their lastgrowth is in the very tipsof the upper lobes. Inyoung plants, each shieldshould be some larger thanthe one behind it.

Fig. 100

A collected P. 8uperbumJ underabout 50% shade, in a botanicalgarden, in Brisbane, Australia.Photo by Ralph Hughes.

When the shields are about 0.7 meters (2 feet) tall, the firstfertile frond can be expected. This is a special event for thebeginning hobbyist, a true sign of accomplishment. Eachfertile frond has one spore patch, oval to nearly triangular,and brown when mature. The fertile frond extends down andoutward from the bud. At its far corners are fingers whichvary greatly in length, hanging down unless they are short.

The bud has light green hairs around it, and tends to becomecovered by frills from the edges of the shield fronds.

-96-

Fig. 101

New shield frond rollingback against the olderones on P. 8uperbum.

The main requirement for growingP. 8uperbum is space. Youngplants do well on plaques, butas they become large, some basicdecisions about their mountingmust be made. Many beautifullog and basket mountings havebeen devised. The author prefersto stay with plaques, and attachthe smaller ones to the largerones, without remounting theplant. Many hobbyists do wellwith moss boxes that have heavychickenwire across the front.

P. 8uperbum probably requiresless water for its size than anyother Platycerium. It is trulysensitive to overwatering.Excess water slows growth, andencourages rots in the shieldsand rhizome. Keeping it on aplaque with only a small amountof moss makes overwatering moredifficult.

P. 8uperbum does well in a variety of light levels. The onlydifficulty with full sun seems to be the flat upper surface ofthe fertile frond may sunburn. If dry it can take temperaturesslightly below freezing, for short periods.

In Australia it is common practice to putscraps in the basket of P. superbum.particularly beneficial.

unwanted vegetableBanana peels are

As P. superbum ages its rhizome becomes longer, and the budmoves farther from the mounting. It may gradually become lessvigorous and die. A sign this is happening is when the newshields do not cover the older ones. The treatment for this isto cut off the back part of the plant, and remount the frontpart. One P. superbum "Weitz" has been grown since 1942, andcut back at least four times. The other giant solitaryPlatycerium species require this treatment also, but it is notcertain if P. ridleyi would survive it.

-97-

/

I

Fig. 102

~I

I

i

As a large P. superbum grows away fromits mounting, the new shields do not fully

cover the older ones, and the plant losesvigor. To save the plant's life, it is cut witha saw, keeping the front 25 to 30 ern. (10 to12 in.) for a new mounting.

Fig. 103

A small P superbum, justmoved from a flower potonto a plaque.

-98-

Spores are abundant and their culture is typical, so thisspecies is often the first sporelings a hobbyist raises. Sevento eight years is normal from spore to a specimen with fertilefronds. Many sporelings are exported from the Netherlands,and a great amount of tissue culturing is done in California,making P. superbum the most readily available staghorn thatdoes not form pups.

Two forms are found in the trade in California "Tamburiense"" . "" .. 'and Weltz. Tamburlense" lS supposed to be named for the

Tamburine Mountains, in Australia, but it is a misnomer,because there are no such mountains. Ralph Hughes found thename that of a community with a resort hotel. Its elevation is500 meters (1600 feet). He made observations there for threedays and found the native P. superbum showed no unique traits.The "Tamburiense" being sold now are individuals with theleast hair, chosen from groups of standard P. superbum.

"Weitz" is named for Mrs. Herman Weitz, a native CaliforniaIndian lady, who, with her husband, had a little fern nurseryin Ventura, California, before World War II. It is nearlycertain she got the original plant from Mr. Rosco S. Baldwin,who had a fern nursery of some note in Pasadena, California.Formerly called the "White Grande," its most distinctivefeatures were, it was somewhat more hairy than standardP. superbum~ and tended to have wide sweeping tops to its

Fig. 104

P. superbum with two buds. One budwas cut off so the plant could grownormally. While small this plantformed two other plants by rhizomebranching.

-99-

shield fronds, as shows

TlPlatycerium Fern Facts."

individuals with the most

on page 66 of Wendy Franks' book,

The "Weitz" being sold now are the

hair, chosen from groups of standard

This is a highly recommended species, which may live for many

years.

Fig. 105

The range 0 f P. ,superb-urn. is

entirely in eastern Australia,

mostly out of the tropics, at

elevations from 0 to 750 meters

(0 to 2,500 feet).

2.3 0 27' S -----

-100-

Platycerium veitchii

(veitch-e-eye)

Probably is named for theVeitch nursery, Exeter,England, founded by JamesVeitch in the late 18thcentury and run by thefamily until it closed in1914. The family was veryactive in early tropicalplant collecting, orchidsin particular.

P. veitchii is closelyrelated to P. bifurcatum~

but is unique in severalways. It is covered witha great amount of whitehair. The tops of itsshield fronds grow intothin fingers. Its fertilefronds are very upright.

Some of these traits areadaptations to the dryconditions where it isnative.

Very high light levelsare required for thisspecies to show thesetraits fully. In lesslight its fertile frondsgrow less erect, havefewer hairs, and fingersalong the tops of the

shields are shorter. Theamount of water may alsoaffect formation of thefingers on the shields.High light, with littlemoisture gives the mostdistinctive specimens.

Fig. 106

Pup of an imported P. veitchii~

white with hairs, and showingthe tall fingers on the shields.

Fig. 107

The fingers already show on thistiny developing shield of P.veitchii.

-101-

Fig. 108P. veitchii on sandstone of a shadyCarnarvon Gorge National Park,north wes t of Brisbane, Australia.

seep (or spring) in710 km. ( 475 mi. )

Fig. 109

In the same area asabove, this singleP. veitchii wascovered with dust.There had been norain for 2 months.The nearest weatherstation showed anaverage annualrainfall of 64.5em. (25.4 in.). Thesurrounding areawas semi-arid hushcountry.Both photos takenby Ralph Hughes,5-16-1980

-102-

forms ofin thealmost

The early importations of P. veitchii were actuallyP. bifurcatum. Even now they are sometimes offeredtrade as "green veitchii." True P. veitchii isidentical to the old cultivar Lemoinei.

Overwatering can give P. veitchii difficulties, but it is aneasy, interesting, distinctive and rugged species which formspups freely. Hennipman and Roos call it P. bifurcatum spp.veitchii.

Fig. 110

Kept in full sun insouth Florida, thisimported P. veitchiishows all the traitsof the species.

-103-

Fig. III

The limited distribution ofP. veitchii. Found growingon rocks, near springs, insemi-arid basins in easternAustralia, it withstandsdroughts of several months.

~--if"""

Fig. 112

P. veitchii cv. Lemoinei, forming pups through the sidesof a treefern pot.

-104-

Platycerium wallichii

(wal-Iee-key-eye)

Common name: Indian Staghorn

This species is named for Nathaniel Wallich, Director of theCalcutta Botanic Garden for 30 years, starting in 1815.

Fig. 113

A P. wallichii showing fertilefronds. On this plant each hasthree lobes, two of which havespore patches. Fertile frondsof this species show veryprominent veins.

P. wallichii may1.3m. (4.5 ft.)in cultivationbe smaller.

In naturebe abouttall, butit tends to

This species has tall spreading shields with many roundedlobes along their upper edge. It forms a definite basket. Theshields may all be brown while the fertile fronds are stillgreen.

The fertile fronds havedistinctively prominentveins on the upper side.Their shape varies greatlyin cultivation. Althoughthere is one main lobewhich hangs down and hasthe main spore patch onit, there may be a lobe toits side with anotherspore patch, and otherlobes to the side of thatwhich have none. If thereare enough lobes, thefrond becomes fan-like andthe outer lobes may evenblend in with the shields.The area with the sporepatch extends forward andmay have points on theedge.

-105-

Fig. 114

Small P. waZZichii sporeling with afertile frond.

Fig. 115

P. waZlichii spore patchfrom underneath.

-106-

Few hobbyists grow P. wallichii successfully. It may die fromrots, but more often it goes into dormancy and never comesout. There is little agreement among those who grow P.wallichii successfully on how the species should be treated.One gives it no water while dormant, another keeps it wateredwell all year so it does not go dormant. More experiences areneeded.

Importers report plants from India are smaller and more aptto go dormant than those from Thailand. Since in Thailand itgrows together with P. holttumii~ plants from there should beadapted to the same conditions as P. holttumii~ monsoonforests with definite wet and dry seasons. Plants from Indiaare collected from near the border of Burma and China, out ofthe tropics, where they grow on rocks as well as trees. Itcould be that cool temperatures during dormancy are importantto those plants.

Fig. 117

P. wallichii with a fertile frond with many lobes. Only thefirst two have spore patches. This fertile frond is so widethat it has joined the group of shields. The pen is for size.

-107-

The future of this species in the hobby probably depends moreon sporelings being raised under cultivation here than oni.mports. These plants could be better conditioned to theenvi.ronment in cullec tions. The spore are green, anindication they do not live long. They germinate quickly.Sporelings, under very moist conditions, have volunteered,causing the author to suggest that a pad of moist moss keptbelow a spore patch might develop some.

Hennipman and Roos consider P. walZichii to be most closelyrelated to P. elephantotis. Hoshizaki in an earlier studyput it closer to the P. superbum group.

P. waZlichii must be considered a difficult species, pronerots and permanent dormancy. More experience with itneeded. It seems safest to obtain plants from Thailandsporelings.

Fig. 116

toisor

-Q1-

D.I

23 0 27'N

(JJ

The distribution ofP. wallichii in India,Burma, Thailand, andthe Yunnan Province ofChina. The dotted lineis the Tropic ofCancer.

-108-

Platycerium wandae

(wan-dee)

Common Name: Queen Staghorn

P. wandae~ the largest Platycerium~ becomes about 1/3 largerthan P. superbum. The shield fronds are very upright andlobed along the top. They form a basket. The fertile frondsare like those of P. holttumii~ with two lobes, the smallerelevated. Each lobe has a brown spore patch.

Clo~ely related to P. superbum~ P. holttumii~ and P. grande~

this species is distinct in its size, and by having littlepoints on the edges of its shields at the bud. It may haveto become 45 em. (18 in.) tall before the points show.P. wandae forms fertile fronds at a much smaller size thanthe other three species.

Fig. 118

This giant P. wandae in a California greenhouseis thought to be the first imported into thiscountry. It is the one survivor of two tinyplants received in 1960. At the time of thisphoto is was about in need of a trim, as shownon page 98.

-109-

Fig. 119

The edges of the shieldfronds form many frillsat the bud of P. wandae.

Fig. 120

P. wandae forms fertilefronds at a smaller sizethan any of the othergiant Platycerium.

-110-

P. wandae isthe trade areparticular.ly

Adequate space is the main requirement for growing P. wandae.It is almost as sensitive to overwatering as P. Buperbum>but not as prone to shipping damage as P. holttumii. Itstemperature range is not as low as P. Buperbum. Otherwise,the culture methods for P. wandae are the same as forP. Buperbum.

not often imported. Nearly all of the plants incultivated sporelings. Spore culture is notdifficult. Sporophytes form quickly.

To the hobbyist with enough space, P. wandae is a handsomeand not difficult Platycerium.

Fig. 121

The fertile frondof P. wandae hastwo lobes. One iselevated, and eachhas a spore patch.The top edge of theruler is marked incentimeters.

Photo byRalph Hughes

-111-

.,' ", ./)....f)..~

fig. 122

Distribution of P. u)andaeon New Guinea. The easternpart is probably due tointroduction by man.

-112-

Platycerium willinckii

(wil-lin-key-eye)

Common Name: Java Staghorn

P. willinckii is very closelyrelated to P. bifurcatum. Itsshields are different by beingvery tall, deeply lobed, andoften having their tops loseall the tissue except theveins. Its fertile fronds aredifferent by hanging down, andbeing very long.

The fertile fronds tend togrow edgewise at the bud andthen arch down. They have morehair on the underside. SomeP. willinckii develop a wide,flat group of pointed, curvedfingers at the ends of thefertile fronds. Those withvery long fertile fronds areprobably the extreme form ofthe natural population, butthey are also the mostdistinctive for the hobbyist.The fertile frond length isaffected somewhat by how manyare allowed to develop. Thelargest and most magnificentspecimen of P. willinckii thisauthor has ever seen is theone shown on the back cover,being held by its owner, RalphHughes. The next summer ithad more fertile fronds, buteach was slightly shorter.

Fig. 123

Tall shield fronds ofP. willinckii are soonleft as only a networkof veins.

The bud of P. willinckii is rather small. This species mayremain inactive for quite some time after being shipped, andthe small bud is apt to cause the new owner to consider theplant dead.

-113-

Growing P. wiZZinckii offers no specific problems. It formspups, but not as freely as P. bifurcatum. It does well inmedium light, moist moss, and is not prone to rot. It cannotbe expected to grow as quickly as, or take temperatures aslow as P. bifurcatum. Plants in the trade are pups from earlyimportations. It is almost never imported now, or grown fromspore. This species is called P. bifurcatum spp. wiZZinckiiby Hennipman and Roos.

P. wiZZinckii is a distinctive, pretty, and easy PZatycerium,highly recommended.

Fig. 124

P. wiZZinckii has a small bud.Growing downward, and edgewiseis a new fertile frond, whitewith hair.

~c>.,. .,,_~'oo~~'iJ?JAVA ~ . t!J

Fig. 125

Range of P. wiZZinckii.

-114-

A starting hobbyistspecies of PZatyceriu~

Below is an attempt to

Level One, easiest:P. alcicortze ~ P.P. willinckii

should consider trying the differentaccording to their level of difficulty.rank them.

bifurcatv.m~ P. hiZZii~ P. ve-itchii

Level Two, fairly easy:P. superbum~ P. grande) P. wandae

Level Three, not difficult, but require some experience:P. andinum) P. eZephantotis) P. ellisii) P. holttvmiiP. stemaria

Level Four, somewhat difficult:P. co1'onarium~ P. madagascariense*

Level Five, difficult, or little understood:d Od' h + P 'd) . F -/ '1' 7,"P. qua 1'1- 1/C, ovomUJ7i~ "_. 1'1- veY1-) • LJa&!--SCn1,'[

* Must be kept entirely free of pests.

-115-

Craig, Jack. Sept. 1977,JouY~al~ Vol. 4 (9) 238-240

For additional reading:

Coats Alice M. ~ 1969~ The Plant Hunters~ McGraw-Hill, N.Y.

In Search of P. ridleyi~ LAIFSCollecting in Malaysia.

Graf, Alfred Byrd, 1981, Tropica, Second Edition, Roehrs Co.East Rutherford NJ, 07073, Pages 449-453.

Hoshizaki, Barbara Joe. 1972. Morophology and Phylogeny of?Zatycel'iwn Species. Bioty)op-ica~ 4: 93-117 Contains akey to species~ and a diagram of species relationships.

Hughes, Ralph H., Dec. 1982. Platycer-iwn BupeY'bwn in theWild and in Cultivation. Fiddlenead FOY'Vffi Vol. 9(6) 42-44

Hughes, Ralph H.• 1983, PlatyceY'iwn bifurcatwn in the Wildand the Home, The Bri tiBn PterFlogica l Society Bulletin~

Vol. 2(5) 257-261

Hughes, Ralph H., 1984, PlatyccY'ivJn bifuY'catum in the lifildand in Cultivation. FiddZehead Fo~~~ Sept-Oct. -in press

fogg, H. G. Wilham, 1976, History of Popular Garden Plantsfrom A to Z, A. S. Barnes & Co., N.Y. A nice section onJames Veitch, nothing on Platyceriwn.

Franken, N. A. P., and Roos, M. C., 1982, The First Recordof Platyceriu~ ridleyi in Sumatera. American Fern Journal~

Vol. 72(1) 12-14

Franks, Wendy, 1975, Platycerium Fern Facts

Fern Lesson, 1979, Platyceriv~ pidZeyi~ LAIFS Journal, Vol.6(Sept.) 271-276

Joe (Hoshizaki), Barbara, 1964, A Review of the Species ofPlatycerium~ Baileya, 12(3) 69-126. A classic paper.

Joncheere G. J. 1968 Notes on Platyccriwn II,uilZhelminae-reginae Reduced to P. wandae~ Blumea,XVI (l) 110-114

P.Vol.

Joncheere, G. J., andof Plat7.Jce."pi7--Im and

"British Fern Gazette

Hennipman, E., 1970, Two Newthe identification of P.10:113-118

-116-

Speciesgrande.

Lind, E. M., and Morrison, E. S., 1974. East AfricaVegetation, Longman Group Limited, London. Contains maps,vegetation types, and has a paragraph on P. elephantotison Page 16.

Tryon, Rolla M., and Tryon, Alice F., 1982, Ferns andAllied Plants, Springer-Verlag, New York, 739-743. P.andinwTl only, photos of habitat, microscope pictures ofspore, stellate hairs, and chromosomes. Lists elevation as100 to 1200 meters (325 to 3900 feet) for this species.

For additional reading:

A. Difficult to obtain in this country

Hennipman, E., and Roos, M. C., 1982, A Monograph of theFern Genus PlatyceY'iwTI) North Holland Puhlishing Company,Amsterdam, 126 pages, ISBN 0-4448-5569-6

Any paper in Blumea may be difficult to obtain.

B. Rare

Amburro, Dr. Car tallaya, about 1981, El Genus Platyc:cY'1:um(Servia), in Spanish, University of Columbia, Bogota, Onecopy of this book was received in the U.S.A., loaned, andlost. Letters to the University of Columbia addressed toits author are returned. Other sources in South Americahave not been able to locate the book.

Lecoufle, Marcel,[lo;r?t'i,cO Ze, 1965numbers 2270 andcomplete Ycv'iew,

Revision Dll Genre :Dlatuccyv"um Fie 7n./(;:- ~).~. 1/ ,JI','

numbers 2264, 2265, 2267, and 22.69; 19662274. A six part series, in french, very17 species, 8 cllitivars.

-117-

tr HAPTER SITETI17AiB§

LA REUNION

p. bifurcatum cv. Majus

three of ten fertile fronds

INTRODUCTION

There are two general directions a Platyceriwn hobby can go.One is to try to obtain and grow all eighteen species. Thistends to be expensive both in the cost of the plants and thecost of maintaining the conditions some of them require.Failures will be experienced with difficult species. Theother is to concentrate on cultivars. Success is far moreassured in this direction. It is possible to build a veryinteresting and rewarding Platycer"iv.J71 cuItivar collec t ion,but the hobbyist, when considering buying a new cultivar,should insist on seeing mature plants, grown under normalconditions, as proof it retains its unique traits.

Cultivars are forms of a species, made in cultivation.'\; Somecultivars have simply arisen accidentaJ.ly in cultivation,been noticed and propagated. Examples are: Magnificent, andHorne's Delight. Others have been around so long no one issure where they came from, like P. b(furcatwn cv. Florida andP. bifurcatu~ cv. San Diego.

Definite recorded attempts to form cultivars start in theSan Diego,California area with Xr. Charles Lewis Cass about1940. When making the Cass cultivars he mixed the spores offour types of Platycerivffi~ P. stemaria J P. superbvffi~ P.hillii~ and P. bifurcatv.m cv. San Diego. He put the spore ona boiled red brick in a cake pan of water with glass over it.The assumption was with prothallia of different species soclose together, the sperm could cross from one prothallium to

*It is difficult to see how a cultivar of a species that onlyreproduces by spores could retain its distinctive traits.Propagating a cultivar depends on keeping a special genecombination together. Meiosis, the type of cell divisionused in spore formation, has the function of mixing genesHhich would destroy the special gene _combination of thecultivar. Pups however are formed directly from the cellsof the parent plant using mitosis, a type of cell division,,,hich only duplicates genes, giving pups the same specialgene combination as the parent plant.

-121-

ana ther and hybrids would be formed. The results ,.;rere theCass cultivars. Only one looked at all like P. s&perbum andit was discarded. Mr. Cass gave ten of the cultivars to thelate nurseryman, Albert Wilson, who numbered them Cass 1through Cass 10 according to size, Cass 1 the largest, Cass10 the smallest. When Mr. Cass died he willed his plants toMrs. Dorothy Behrends of Encinitas, California. * Shenumbered the rest B-ll through B-59. The liB" is for Behrends.So, the total number of Cass cultivars is 59. Later shechanged some of her numbers to names. Dorthy Behrends allowedSteve Talnadge, a nurseryman from Chula Vista, California, totake two pups from all the Cass cultivars he ,.;ranted, and hasgiven pups to a few close friends, but otherwise she hasprotected the Cass cultivars.

Steve Talnadge sold plants of the Cass cultivars under thenames given by Dorothy Behrends. However, to other Casscultivars he assigned his own numbers, Cass T#l through anunknown number.

Marshall D. Gresham, in Encinitas, California mixed the sporesof -F. b1:fu.Y'catwT! cv. Majus and P. stemaria in 1943, obtaininga great variety of cultivars. He threw the whole group away,in a spot near the railroad tracks, and later retrieved someof them. Only one, which has his name, is now available.

The nursery of Sylvia Leatherman and her husband, in South EIMonte, California was very active in ferns, and also formedcultivars of PZatycer'iwn. When the stock of this nursery wasobtained by The Plant Shop's Botanical Garden, in Reseda,California, the Flatyceri7.JJTI cuI tivars ,vere in a state ofdj,sarray and most have been lost.

*A Liquor Control Agent, Mr. Cass once made an arrest whichinvolved some local political figure, after which he wastransferred to Santa Barbara. He also sold cacti andsucculents, cheaply. He was never used to having much money.Late in his life he inherited a large sum of money. Somewho knew him feel his worrying over the money contributedsignificantly to his death in 1952.

-122-

Robert Oman, in his nursery in Miami, Florida, has grO'~m

ferns from spores for many years and has formed severalcultivars, most with wide fertile fronds. He has also locatedcultivars in the Miami area and put them in the trade.

Steve Talnadge of Chula Vista, California~ operated TalnadgeFern Nursery for many years and named many cultivars, mostforms of P. hillii. Talnadge also became very interested inBromeliads. On his retirement in the late 1970's, no othernursery made a firm commitment to buy and propagate hisPlatyceriwn cultivars, so they were gradua~ly sold. Aboutone-hundred selections, which included both Talnadge and Casscultivars, were purchased by Ralph Hughes, from 1976 to 1978,and taken to southwest Florida. Another group was taken toHouston, Texas by Ted Wills.

The value of a cultivar is measured by how distinct it isfrom those already available, how stable its traits are, howeasily it grows, and how readily it forms pups. It takesyears to test a cultivar. Often its distinctive traits aredue only to the environment where it was grown rather thannew gene combinations in it. If this is the case, when it isgrown side by side with other cultivars, and under the sameconditions, the distinctive traits of the new one graduallydisappear.

If this book gave a description of a cultivar, that cultivarwould then be offically published. This is not the author'sintent. The purpose of this Chapter is to convey informationto the hobbyist about the appearance of plants that go withthe names in the trade and in collections. So, this Chaptercontains only labeled photos and historical notes.

It is incorrect to name a cultivar usingLatin descriptive word, like ITErectifolia"However it was not practical for the authoreliminate such names.

-123-

a I,atinized oror "Kingii.!I

to correct or

It had to be assumed the labels found on plants were correct.However, it was impossible to verify that those with islandnames were actually from the islands their labels indicated.Also it is likely several of the names here originated aslabels identifying from whom plants were obtained, and havebeen carried along as pups of the plants were traded.

THE CULTIVARS

a. P. willinckii cv Amphostemon

David Miller photob. Aquatenciac. Australia One, or Australia

White Back(For Alcicorne see San Diego)

-124-

d.

f. Volunteer sporeling forthe now retired JimBloom, who had a nurseryin south Florida.

a. Bahia (Talnadge)b. Baileyic. Belgium Hybridd. Belle. Big Footf. BloomEd

-125-

*Names in parentheses are ofthose who named the cultivar.

Bloomei Type I(Ron Arant)

Blue Boy (Talnadge)

Ron Arant operated Arant'EExotic Greenhouses, irBessemer, Alabama, untilthey were heavily damagedby a storm in 1983.

-126-Caguas Nursery

A nursery inPuerto Rico.

P. veitchii cv. BolletDavid Miller photo

David Miller, in North Carolinaformerly shipped PZatycerium asMillers Tropicals.

Bloomei Fingers(Glasshouse Works)*

The Glasshouse Works is related toCountry Hills Greenhouse.

Dr. Carl's bifuroatum

Cascade (Oman)

Cass 2

Dr. Carl's hillii

Cass 1

-127-

c.

-128-

d. e.

a. Cass 3b. Cass 4c. Cass 5d. Cass 6e. Cass 7

a.

a. Cass 8b. Cass B-22

b.

C. d.

e.

c. Cass B-32d. Cass B-38e. Cass B-39f. Cass B-51

-129-

f.

Cass T III(Talnadge number)

Cass T/IS

Cass T 112

Cass Tff4

-130- Cass TII8

Cass Aloha Cass Alta

Cass Carlos Cass Carlos (also)

Cass Crossfingers(Local California name) -131- Cass Jumbo

(Local California name)

Cass Lindo

Cass Ropa

-132-

Cass Robusta

Cavalier (Talnadge

Chestnut (Hermine Stover)

a.

CELEBES ISLAND

There are two IlCelebes ll in southernCalifornia. One is from John Roachwho got it from a merchant marinewho brought it from the island forhis mother in Long Beach, in about1967. Mr. Roach considers it aseparate species. "Roach's Tips"is the same.

The other IlCelebes" traces back toCora Lee Walters, who had somegreenhouses in Rosemead,California.Its origin is less clear.

b.

a. Celebes (Roach)b. Celebes (Walters)c. Celebes (Walters) from aboved. Celebes (Walters) spore patch

d.

c.

-133-

P. bifurcatwn cv. CordDavid Miller photo

Mrs. "D"

Tom Crane has a greenhousein northern California.

Mrs. "D" was named by DorothySkula of Miami, for Ruby Davis.The original plant was growingin Ruby Davis's yard. ThesePhotos are of Dorothy Skula'istock plant.

Mrs. "D"

bifurcatum cv. TomDavid Miller photo

Code T (Oman)Robert Oman bought from FantasticGardens, propagated, and named.

-134-

Diddell(M. Diddell is acknowledgedin Joe, 1964.)

Double Pleasure(Talnadge)

-135-

P. hillii DiversifoliumDavid Miller photo

P. bifurcatum Dwarf(Horne)

P. hillii cv. Dwarf (Roach)

DrununondNamed for Dr. Drununond,founder of LAIFS

Ebony ¥

Eppley Erectifolia (Oman)

*From the former Turner'sTropicals, in San Diego,received among plantsfrom Florida and named.

-136-

"E. T." (Horne) volunteer sporeling

European Hybrid

Excellence (Oman)

Fanstastic Gardens # 10

-137-

Florida -pups kept off­Name given by Jerry Horneto a type of P. bifurcatumgrown in southern Floridasince the mid-1930's.

Florida BeautyTalnadge receivedfrom Florida andnamed

Foster's iil

Gee Gee (Talnadge)(Possibly Gigi)

Forgii

Some consider this thesame as "Roberts."

Foster's #l,spore

Named for the lateBert Foster, who gre. I

bromeliads in Florida

-138-

1,

Geni

German Hybrid #2(Talnadge)

-139-

German Hybrid 111

Gigantea

Gornto Hybrid -140-

Glasshouse WorksPhoto by Ralph HughesAlso see page 78

Gresham's

Guam (Horne)from there ?

Hawaiian

P. veitchii J. HardsonDavid Miller photo

Hila (Talnadge)

Hi Dee

-141-

Horne's Delight (Horne)

volunteer sporeling

Hula Hands(not Talnadge)

Jamaica

P. veitchii Java

Jimmie

Hula Hands was brought to Talnadge,who wanted to name it after theperson who brought it, but that

person had already named it. Thereseem to be two or three forms of it.

-142­Jo Jo (Talnadge)

Kingii

For Leatherman #3see R2#3

La Reunion Island(Oman) from there?

Lanciferum(Ron Arant)

Liberty

Lanciferumsame plant, oneyear later

Longwood Gardens

For "Lemoinei" see pages 10, 25, 104, and 157.

-143-

Longwood Gardens #2

From the late David Barry,who did both collectingand importing in the late1960's and early 1970's.He ran California JungleGardens, in Los Angeles.

Longwood GardensSporeling (Oman)

Longton (Talnadge)

Lucky Strike (Talnadge)

-144-

Magnificent (Mentelos)Discovered by Tom Mentelos insporelings from California.

P. bifurcatum cv. Majus

P. willinckii cv. W. A. Manda(plant collector in Pennsylvania)

David Miller photo

-145-

German Majus

Maui (Talnadge)

Mauna Loa (Talnadge)

Mickey's 112Volunteer sporeling forMickey Carmichael, whohas an orchid nurseryin southern Florida.

Hummel operated Hummel's ExoticGardens, in Ingelwood, California,and made many bromeliad cultivars."Minnie Bell ll is his wife's name.

John Ekstrand FerNut, Vista,,California, sells ferns inshopping centers and plantshows.

Minnie Bell (Hummel)

Minor (Ekstrand)

Missouri Botanical GardE(Oman)

-146-

Newbill

Imported P. hifurcatum~

given to Jerry Horne bya late collector.

New Caledonia #2David Miller photo

New hiZZiiDavid Miller photo

For "Netherlands" seepages 54, and 157.

P. hifurcatum Normale -147- Nuevo Island

P. veitchi i cv. Omanii

"Panama" started at a nursery on20th Street, in Miami. Its owner,Mr. Bryant, saw the original planton a palm tree in Panama and hadit sent to his nursery, in about1960. It has been called "The 20thStreet Platyceriwn." The nurseryis no longer there.

P. bifurcatwn Patens

PanamaGrown in southern FloridaPencil on one wide frond

Grown in New MexicoPanama

-148-

Plath

-149-

Pumila

Pumila "Kew Gardens"L«" ,"A/<'/:1n(Talnadge)

Payton Named by Joe, 1964,for Wayne Payton.

P. ~iZlinckii cv. Paul

Pumila "Kew Gardens" (Talnadge)

P. UJiZlinckiicv. Pygmaeum

For Roach's Tipssee Celebes

P. bifupcatum cv. Pygmaeum

R2113 orLeatherman 113Named by Bill Cook

P. bifupcatum cv.

Roberts

Described in

Joe, 1964

-150-

Sumbawense, in oak tree

Splendens (Talnadge)

Sumbawense

P. sumbawense Christ, from Sumbawapictured in Joe, 1964, is a synon~

of P. willinckii. This cultivar i:more like P. bifurcatum. It may b(the same as Payton, on page 149.

South Seas (Talnadge)

-151-

P. wilZinckii cv. Silvery

Scofield

Named in Joe, 1964, forGlenn Scofield.

Santa Barbara P. bifurcatum grownoutdoors there.

P. veitchii Sansome #2David Miller photo

-152-

T-One

-153-

Grown in San Diego as an outdoorplant for many years, it is stillusually labeled "Alcicorne" insouthern California. Mr. Cassused it in his crosses. Named"San Diego" by Joe, 1964. Thisidentification has been verified.

Talnadge

San Diego

Talnadge

Tasmania

TheibanDavid Miller photoNamed for John Theiban

Timor Island

Turneri

Probably named for MarieTurner, friend of SylviaLeatherman.

TommetNamed for Tom Mentalos ofFantastic Gardens.

-154-

P. veitchii Variant(Wendy Franks)

O. W. Wilson is a growerin California.

Walrusii

P. hillii cv. o. W. WilsonDavid Miller photo

Paul Webber -155-Paul Webber

P. bifurcatum CV. Wood Wrightii

P. bifurcatum cv.

Ziesenhenne

Described in Joe, 1964

-156-

Other cultivar notes:

"Lemoinei" '<las first offered by V. Lemoine and Son }/ursery,in Nancy, France, in 1924. They described it is a hybridbetween P. veitchii and P. willinckii. Lecoufle* was veryconvinced that it was such a hybrid. Joe (Hoshizaki) in1964 put it as a cultivar of P. willinckii and pictured onewith very long, drooping fertile fronds. As shown on page 25,this author feels it only develops long drooping fertilefronds when grmVTI in low light. When grown in high light, itis nearly identical to P. veitchii.

The name "Netherlands n was given by Joe (Hoshizaki) in 1964,replacing P. alcicorne var. regina wilhelmine~ a name thenused in the trade. The replacement was made to avoidconfusion with P. wilheZminae-reginae~ a species name. laterchanged to a synonym of P. u'andae. nNetherlands l1 is the mostcommonly available Platyceriwn cultivar, tissue cultured ingreat quantities in southern California.

Cultivar names not pictured:

P. hillii cv. Australia WhiteP. veitchii cv. BlueCalifornia SplendorCamplandDr. Carl's 113The Duke (Talnadge)EpstienFalse ellisiiFantasiaFantasticGanterGranaHastingsHi-Ho

K. H. varietyKailua Kona (Talnadge)MayiMickey's RainbowNickey's #3Mickey's #4Ralph HybridSandra IslandsSeellsee (Behrends)-pronounced "c" 'IL" I'e'·

Sister of Jo Jo (Talnadge)Talnadge #4Talnadge XTempo

*Marcel Lecoufle's nursery in Paris~ France, was very activein early importation from Madagascar. Several dealers andhobbyists in this country have imported from Lecoufle. Thenursery is now devoted almost entirely to orchids.

~157-

..........~ ..._~.__......._---

CHAPTER 6: Items

I. Hybrids

Although a few cultivars are supposed to be hybrids, the onlydocumented case of crossing two species of P"latyceY'1:wn isthe cross of P. superbum with P. stcmaria by Tom Mentelos.In 1975 Barbara Joe Hoshizaki named the plant Platycerivmx mentelosii cv. Fantastic Gardens. It was kept at FantasticGardens nursery in Miami until the summer of 1984 when thenursery closed. The plant was then donated to FairchildTropical Gardens, in Miami. Spore from it were gro\Vll byRobert Oman into a specimen which he plaqued in 1972. Itformed its first fertile frond in 1982, and others in 1983.By 1983 the plant seemed to be reverting to the form ofP. supcrbv.m. Spore from it have germinated, which shoulddevelop into the third generation. Other attempts to crossspecies are being made.

II. New Species

Reports of other species of Platyccrium are not uncommon.Sightings are claimed in New Zealand, Equador, and evenHonduras. A collector insists there is another species in themountains of Madagascar. The only one of these with specimenscurrently in cultivation, other than 'Celebes,' is thePlatyccrium from the region of Mt. Lewis in remote northernQueensland, Australia. This plant was probably responsiblefor the early reports of P. willinckii in Australia.

III. Moss note

Sphagnum moss may cause some difficulties.

A. Water routesA pathway may develop through the moss which allows waterto pass through the moss without wetting the roots of thePZ-atyceriwn. The solution is to press the moss tighter,and submerge the plant in water until no air bubblessurface.

-159-

Fig. 126 (above)

Two views of P. x rnentelosii cv. Fantastic Gardens, takenat Fantastic Gardens in the summer of 1983. In the rightview, part of the fertile frond is held . over to show thespore patch. The plant was located and identified byTorn Henrichs and the author.

Fig. 127 (right)

Second generation P. x rnentelosii cv. Fantastic Gardens,grown by Robert Oman.

a. Summer 1982, first fertile fronds it ever formed.b. Summer 1983, second fertile fronds, the spore patch

of one has been cut away. By this time the plant hadtaken the general shape of P. superbum.

c. Brown spore patch, summer 1983.

-160-

-161-

Fig. 128

A unique Platyceriumcollected in remotenorthern Queensland,Australia, in thearea of Mt. Lewis.

Fig. 129

Closer view of theupper and undersideof the fertile frondof the Mt. LewisPlatycerium above.

-162-

B. \Vuter rejection\Vhen the moss becornes too drv. particularh if it is nev·,. or has a.... - ....

<- t· 1" . . . kl lsun-ace coat 0 a gae. It may reject v,aieL causmg 1110 trIC • e ClOvYB

The sides \vithout en1erinll. The trcatrnent is also to subrner~e the. ~, . ~

"Plant. Part of the algae coaL may have to be remc,ved.Watering is simplified if a flat area. or even a depression. is madein the top of the moss abO\'e the plant.

l ' T S' l' ( _. J. \.')V , uppliers t . 0. (Fern Societies web pages also have lists)

Plant suppliers (the author does not sel! plants)

Glasshouse v,VorksChurch Street. P.O. Box 97Stc\'\'urt OB 45778-0097740-662-2142 (inftmnation number)ltL ·//".;'Fnl. "h, ,,'.'!"['. iP~'·'·"".H h··- 11 lp .. 1\\ ,\ '",=_3S.o .ouse ,\ Oi .;,S.~0111, t_cJ.n~.~abe.! ~m

Chades Alford164') Q!h "t .S' 11l\. • _ ./ ~., -l.. • • 1/'; •

Vera Beach FL 32962-43 J4561-770-91 19 (c-111al i for list)chasalford((7~~earthlink.nct

Rainforest Flora. Inc.

\Vearnc's Staglwrn NurseryMu] ino OR 97042 (503-632-7086)http://y\wv'i.slaghornIlUl~~~rv.com/

The Fern Factory (no address)http://www.ternfactol"./.com

19121 Hawihorne Blvd.Torrance CA 90503

http'~UV,,\y\v.rHjnfmesHlonl.con!st<l:-1:s.htm

IViakria!s Suooliers:. , ,

Doug Eckel2! 19 Victoria Dr.}cullerton CA 92831I:u.:tp:,//homc.carthlink.net/-decho!

IYh:uagascar Tropicals (very complete website)24 E. Las flon:s Dr.Altadem: CA 91001 (6:::6-791-3600)

1 II d .. I"' 1 11tt9:/1 \\'\\'\\'.1110.· ago.scartroplcals.com/l11aex.l1tmJ

CarOlina Biological Supply CoBurlington NC 275 j 5hltp:!/\vy~__~v .C2]'OJ ina.con/

Orchids by Hausermann.Box 363Elmhurst It 60 I06http://w\\\\.orchi9.0b,,hausermann.c.Q.m

OFE Internntiona1Orch it.! Suppliers $150 minimum shipping orderP. 0, Box 7754. 10% extra on orders belmv $15012! 00 S. \"1. 129111 Ct. (Popular supplier, long fiber Neyv Zea~and Sphagnum Moss)IVliami FL 33 J86 407-293-14-5 ihttp:L'\y,.\w.ofe-intl.com

(Page revised October 2(08)

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800-432-6925 .'j1:"-('~' j i~...",,-r.:r, - - ;1'{Jr!-,rj,r'"r''' "'("/'l"_~_~~""i..JaiJ Vf;,,!\,\f ;''V. \./... &'~ l-'V'llo.!_l',_' .. \"'I ...}..o:.il.l

(Site does not take orderf:1), "

((rl,p.p.nh(pi"0 S"FUllle<;!\,~u ... v....... .... ~ l .. r..3.r , .-u.:

Fern Publications:Updated 3/10/98

·-Amounts in US Dollars for U. S. roernberships-

American Fern SocietyDr. David Lellinger,Member.ship Secretary326 West St. NWVjenna, VA.. ;~2J.80-,4151

k:::.; {year: Includes:Arllel:.'ican Fern Journal

(research)and Fiddlehead Forum

(hobbyist)http://,tcll.'''w. visuallink .net-/ fern/index .html

r,os Angeles International Fern SOG

Dave FayP,o. Box 9094JPasadena CA 91109-0943$!~O/year

LAIFS Jour:nal,Color covers l fine hobbyist publication.

The Fern Forum,Southwestern Fern Sooiety,2105 Shadow Ridge DriveAr"lington, TX 76006$15/year. Mainly society news

http://web2.airmail.net/lhp/s\oJfs/swfsgi .html

San Diego Fern SocietyGeor:ge Plaisted6356 Delbarton StreetSan Diego C'A 92120 USA$3/year.

(Has publication, name not on website)htt,p: / /'tI'AoM. jnetloJorld ~net/sdfer:n/i.ndex.html

$15/vear, ...'

British Pteridological Society:The Fern GazetteBuLlett~of the British Pteridological Society

L" ..'·.~~"!'_<,;;·.:ii,.':>,.' ,'.::'~,·\r•.'"t.;",'••?' ':'-"~'l:,-_;>.~.:.,r",'."',,-j, ,.- j .' £'], 'i .00"•.u ,~~ ... ~ ..... \.,_ -~ .. ~~,~.[qG'~~~'1~:~ -http://www.nhm.ac.ukJhosted_sites/bps/

--~----

Fern Societies~

Sour:ce: http://vJWW.inet.world.net/sdfern/othersoc .htmu. S. only listed here

Austin Cycad and Fern SocietyJohn D. Young5007 North }i'rescoAustin, 'fX 78731

Corpus Chr:isti Fern SociEltyP. Coleman438 Claremont St.Corpus Christi. 'I'X 78412

Delaware Valley Fern and Wildflower SocietyClara W. Bondinell1512 Franklin LaneWayne FA 19087

Hardy Fern Foundat.ion (BEE)Bar:bara Carman,P.O. Box 166Medina, !lIJA, 98039-0166

Intm:national Tropical Fern Society8720 South meet 34th St.Miami, FL 33165

Irouisiana Fern SoclE:tyHar:y Elliott41038 S. Range Rd.Ponchatoula, La. 10454

Me~phis Fern SocietyChris Spindel3985 South Galloway DriveMemphis TN 38111-6841

San Francisco Fer:n Society4"726 Hilltop Dr.El Sob~ante, CA 94803

Tampa Bay Fern ClubCarl StrohmengerPO Box 155781~mpa Florida 33684-5578

New YOLk Fern SocietyDr· .. John MickelNew Yor-k Botanical GardenBronx :NY 10458

Platycerium andinumhabitat photos.

Right, mature cluster,on quinilla tree, Jan.1996. Note overallring shape.

Below: Dead ring onquiniDa tree, fromvideo. April 1 1999.Both near Tarapoto,San Martin, Peru.

-164 B-

Sources of books;

LAIFS Bookstore;6561 Melbourne Drive,Huntington Beach, California 92647

Rainbow Gardens and Bookstore,1444 E. Taylor Street,Vista, California 92084

Desert Biological PublicationsBox 722,Mena, Arkansas 71953

Since this book was published many things have happened. RobertOman passed away in March of 1988. Eugenio Pingatore, who madethe drawing on page 43, is also gone.

In 1987 a new species, Pla~vcerium bilobum, was described.

Ralph Hughes I following the classification of Hennipman and Roos,described the Mt. Lewis plant as Platycerium bifurcatum ssp.[d llinckii var "venosa'l in LAIFS Journal, June 1989.

Later in the American Fern Journal, Vol. 80 No.2. 1990 Hoshizaki &Price described Platycerium x elemaria 'Sanchez,' a cross betweenPlatycerium elephantotu5 and Pla(ycerium stemaria. It was found inthe collection of Ernie Sanchez, and named for him. They agreedthat Platyceriwil angolense shound be called Platyceriumelephantotus and that Platycerium vassei should be calledPlatycerium alcicorne. They said Platycerium bilobum was notdifferent from Platycerium coronarium which means there now is noPlatycerium bilobum. They also "..ere very critical of the vJOrk ofHennipman and Roos.

In late 1995 and early 1996 I traveled in Peru with Lee Moore,studying the habitat of Platycerium andinum. My report was inLAIFS Journal, Feb. 1997.

Jerry Horne sells a Platycer.ium angolense cv \ Roy? named for me.The original plant carne from Helen Shortt, wife of Bill Shortt. Ibelieve it is the same as Platycerium x elemaria 'Sanchez,' whichis not in the trade. Ernie Sanchez could have gotten his originalplant from Helen Shortt since the two did trade plants.

The stock plant of cv. Gigi was also Helen Shortt's. She gave onepup to me, which died. Later, when she was disposing of hercollection, she gave me the stock plant. I sent it to Jerry Hornefor cultivation. He kept it over 5 years but it never pupped.Eventually it died.

Ap r i 1 13, 1997

Publishing Information:

Spacing of the text was done in the Editor of U. C. S. D.Pascal System 11.0. There are no hyphenated words in thisbook. Type is Prestige Elite, and light Itallic. Photoscreens are 85 linesjinch 1 except the back cover which is130 lines/inch. All the author's photos were screened fromdirect positive Type R prints from 135 mm Kodachorme 25slides.

Photo screens by:

ABC Printing, Las Cruces, New MexicoHynes Advertising, Las Cruces, New MexicoDel Valle Printing, and Graphisc,

Las Cruces, New Mexico

-166-

Conclusion

If this book is your first introduc tion to the genus TlaLiJCeY"i>c/.)Ti~_ v

I would suggest you subscribe to hobbyist periodicals, and look fora fern society in your area. For an introduction to staghorn ferns,contact plant suppliers, and try some of the standard cultivars,such clS Bloomei, Florida, Hula Hands, Netherlands, Haj us, Pumila,Lemoinei, Panama, Sumba,vense, San Diego, and 2ie8enhenne. Then tryspecies, considering the listing on page 115. I wish you all thesuccess in the world. Welcome to a fascinating hobby.

I hope this book is a service to the Platyce.r1:wn hobbyist. Hhat Ihave written here is not all that is known now about this genus,plus, \.;re have much more to discover about Flatyce.riv1n.

For additional reading:

Hoshizaki, Barbara Joe, 1978, Staghorn Ferns Today and Tomorrow,LAIFS Journal, Vol. 5(3) 72-5

-167-

Pag.02 San Martin DiariO JIHORALa asociaci6n Bosque del futuro gjas de agva

Constru•• loca. qt.llzaodeIDat.rla••s de.llzona

!lIfegraIJtes de Itl"socittci611 en plDUI ",,,bajo en IIICtl/"vtruce;611 delltleal ;nsf;htL'ionlll,

La asociaci6n de pro­leccion y conservacionecol6gica "EI bosque delfuturo ojos de agua" de laprovincia de Picota vienetrabajando en la cons-

truccion de un local pro­pio en la eual esmn utili­zando materiales de lazona, como maderas ro­IIizas y hojas de palmas.

EI meneionado local

contara con un auditorioy una oficina administra­tiva, la mistna que servirlla la colectividad de Pu­cacaca sobre todo a lasorgan/zaciones sociatesde base, quienes podrandesarrollar diversas acti­vidades como taUeres,capacitaciones, en unlocal fresco y venti1ado,

E! ansliioo IvcalprO­pio viene sie~.~....ciado por el bi6f9go<Mr.,ROY VAil compromi$Oque asume a raiz de un.trabajo conjunto reali­zado entre la asociaci6ny el protesional nortea­mericano. quien ha vistola necesidad de estaasociaci6n de un lugaradecuado donde puedandesarrollar sus aetjvida-

des de investigacion.Los integrantes de la

asociaci6n de consel'Va­cion y prolecci6n "Bos­ques del Futuro Ojos deAgua", esta invitando ala poblaci6n Sanmarti­nense a visitar esta zonaprotegida. de Pucacacadistrito de la provincia dePicota, que es unc de lospa4CijeS wn~ ;:v:;~.,

JQfiosdelaft!9i6n. POI'qu~,~~~~ •..9M.·diverSi;'dad' bIOlOgicapor serconsiderada como bos,que seco tropical del,HuaUaga central comoun habitat muy poco es­tudiado por la ciencia yal mismo tiempo des­pierta el interes de mu­chos visitantes porconocerfo.

Pilg.02 San Martin

"Corona de los Angeles":

En Plcota exlste el helechogrande de sudalBerica

Mr. Ro}" '~il, Bi.ilogo X,lrteallleri.'aIlO,..n .,/ UltiHla visit" a B"sques del

"'mil'" ,I.. Pi,,'I/(·a."/,. ell el ,,'cllllllrll /arflN"''' d,'l", A'igelt':!.

EI helecho mas'grande de Sudame­rica Uamado "Co­rona de los Angeles"cuyo nombre cient!­fico es "Platycerium

Andinum" tienecomo su habitat na­tural los Quinillalesdel Huallaga Centralgeneralmente en laprovincia de Picota,esta en peligro deexlinelon.

Estas afirmacio­nes las hizo el bi6­logo Mr. Roy Vail. deMena ArkansasEE.UU, profesionatque estudia por masde 30 anos este he­lecho maravilloso.fue en su ultima vi­sita que realiz6 a lalocalidad de Puca­cacao especifica-

mente a 105 bos­ques protegidos"Oj05 de Agua". delmencionado distrito.

A su arriba a la lo­calidad de Puca­cacao provincia dePicota. el Bi610gonorteamericano reu­nido con los inte­grantes de laasociacion el "Bos­que del futuro ojosde agua", firmaronun acuerdo para re­alizar el cuidado Yun manejo serio deesta especie unicaen el Peru. Oljo quesu conservaci6n po­dria ser de atraccionpara los turistasecol6gicos.

La organizacioncivil "Bosque del fu­turo ojos de agua".

de Pucacaca poseeun area boscoSa(le2.413 hectareas debosques primariosen completo estadode conservaci6n enla cual la organiza­cion viene traba­jando en suconservacion.

Al visitar este her­mosa lugar situadoen Pucacaca sepuede apreciar es­pecies (micas en sugenero como repti­les, aves Y arbolesque solo crecen enbosques secas tro­picales, cactus enun excelente es­tado. por 10 que esimportante el apoyoprofesional que reci­bimn del Bi610goMr. Roy Vail.

NOTE: (January 23, 2010) These two articles are from a newspaper in the stateofSan Martin,Peru, in either Deeember 2009 or January 2010, I~m not sure which. I went to Peru during the firstweek of November, 2009. All the video I took was high definition. Watch·for it to become available.For more information about that trip go to the website&; http://www.rovyaiLcom! andhttp://www.pucacacaoeruforest.com!IMUSTsaythis.Encourageyourchildren.grandchildren.totake a foreign language. Foreign languages are living things. Even an old man (72) living in a smaD(less than 6,000), remote town in western Arkansas, can make a differenee in the world because hetook a foreign language, in my case Spanish. RV

Index(Italic indicates page with photo or drQuingJ

A.Africa 46,48,70,95,100Air circulation 26Algae 22,40,163American Fern Society 164Andes Mountains 49,51Ant-inhabited species 56,79,89Antibiotics 19AquaGro 22Arant, Ron 126Australia 55,71,75,96,104,159

B.Bacterial rot 19Bananas 97Banrot 17,40Barry, David 144Baskets 12Behrends, Dorothy 122Black Leaf 40, 12,14,16Benlate 17Benomyl 17Bolivia 51British Pteridological Soc. 164Bryant, Mr. 148Bud 2,3~8~83~50~69,88J92J114

c.Caguas Nursery 163California Jungle Gardens 144Captan 18Carnarvon Gorge 102Carolina Biological Supply Co. 163Cass, Charles Lewis 121-2,153Celebes 133,159Chlorothalonil 17,18Cockroach 12Collecting IIICountry Hills Greenhouse 163Cultivars 121-4

(The cultivars are picturedalmost alphabetically onpages 124-156. Those notpictured are listed onpage 157.)

-169-

Cultivars -cont.Florida 121,167Lemoinei 10J25~31,104,157,167

Majl1s III.VIT,166,167Netherlands 31,54,157,167Panama 13,167Pumila 31,:5'2,167San Diego 121,167Santa Barbara 6

Cygan 1lf

D.Daconil 17,27Davis, Ruby 134Diathane M-22 Special 17Diathane M-45 17Diazinon 14,16,40Distribution maps 48,55,65,70,

75,78,83,86,90,95,100,104,108,111,114

Dying, normal frond 18,20

E.Ekstrand, John 146Epiphytes 5Ethanzol 17

F.Fantastic Gardens 134,159Fernnell Orchids 163Fertilizer 21Flea collars 13Folpet 17Franks, Wendy 100Fronds, types 4Fungus gnats 40Fungi 16-20,22,40Fungicides 17

G.Gametophyte 38 J 83Geiger, E. C. 163Glasshouse Works 78,126,140Gresham, Marshall D. 122

H.Handlens 14Hawks Nursery 94Hennipman E., and Roos, M. C. 1,44,

45,51,55,69,71,86,103,108,114,117Henrichs, Torn 76~ 160Horne, Jerry V,21,50,81,163Hoshizaki, Barbara Joe, 7,28,42,69,

108.116.159.167Hughes, Ralph H. 28,53,94,96,99,

102,111,113,116, and back coverHumidity 26,36Hummel's Exotic Gardens 146Hybrids 157,159

N.Nature's Tropical Gardens 163Nurseries IV,163Nutrients 5,6,21

O.GlUan , Robert 78, 123 , 134 , 159 , 161 ,

163Orchid 79,85Orchid bark 9Orchids by Hauserman 163Orthene 14Overwatering 17,22,97,103

L.Labels 11,111Leatherman, Sylvia 122Lecoufle, Marcel 44,46,85.116,157Light 23,36,79Los Angeles International Fern Soc.

(LAIFS) 164,165

H.Madagascar 45,46,48,51,62,83,84~86,

159Malathion 14,16Maps -see distributionMealybug lDMentelos, Tom 144,154,159Miller, David 126Mites 14Morton C. V. Lf5Mt. Lewis 159

I.Insects 12-14Insecticidal soap 14Iron 12Islands 44Isotox 14

-170-

P.Petroleum distillates 14Plant Shop's Botanical Garden

122,163Platyceriwn~

hybrids of 157,159- ,

Mt. Lewis 159,162New species of 159Species of-alcicorne 1,7,20~23,24~44,45­

48,62,115andinum 1,7,30~34~49-51,84,

115,117angolense -see elephan-to-h:sbifurcatv~ 1,7,52-55,74,101,

114,115coronar~um 1,Z~4~ 7,8~54-61,87

115e leph(xntot~i::j 1 ~ 7 , 19,20,2.9,35,

51,66-70,91,103,108,115grande 1,5,35,51,71-73,76,115hillii 1,7,74-5,115holttumii 1,5,10~29~35,71,76­

78,109,111,115madaga::.wariense I I, 1 , 7 , 16 ,79­

83,85,115quadridichotomum 11,1,7,16,39,

84-86,115ridleyi 1,5,12,lS~35,4Q~56,85,

87-90,97,115stemaria 1,7,20,27,69,91-95,

115,159suverbum 1,5,31,71,73,77,81,

L

96-100,108,109,111,115,159

C. J. 45.71

K.Kelthane 14

3.Joncheere,

Platucerl:VJn,)

species of cant.vassei -see alcicopneveitchii 1,7,101-104,115walZichii 1,5,35,36,37~38,69

105-108,115?Ja?zdae 1, 5 , 76 , 109-11 2 , 115(;)1: I he Zm1:nae - reg?>we 157

-also see wandae'-1-<'1" , 7 1]3 114 11~ 159(;)'i-lr !.-l,nen'/J 1, ., ., , J,

x mentelosii cv. FantasticGardens 159,16'0

Porter's Tropicals 32.,35.,40,163Prothallia 38.,39,40,41Pups 6~12,22,33-35,39,49,77,81

Pythium 17Pytophthora 17Peter's 20-20-20, 21pH 21-2

R.Rainwater 21,22Rhizome 2,3.,58,89rot of 18

Rhizome Reporter 164Roach, John 133Roos, M. C. 58,87-also see Hennipman and Roos

Rots 18-20,29.,97

S.San Diego 94Scale 14,1.5Sevin 13Shortt, Bill 11Skula, Dorothy 134,163Snails 83Snm.;;' scale 16Sowbugs 14Sphagnum moss 9,159Sphagnum peat 9Spore culture 35-41Sporophyte 39,81Sprays-application of 12,13mixing of 26-7repeating 16

Spreader-sticker 27Sterilization 36Subdue 2E 17Sumbawa 151Superthrive 27Suppliers 163-5Survival 7

T.Talnadge, Steve 122,123Tamburine Mountains 99Temperature 26,36,44Terramycin 19,69,77Thrips 14Tissue culture 31-33Trace elements 21Truban 17Turner, Henie 154

H.Wallichi, Nathaniel 105Walters Cora Lee 133Water molds 17Weitz, Mrs. Herman 99Wilson, Albert 122

V.Varga's Nursery 163Variagated P:~atyceyv!:wTI TI

Veitch, James 101,116

X.Xylene

7:.

Ziesenhenne, Rudy I

-171-

About the Author

Roy Vail has been a biologyteacher at Las Cruces HighSchool, in Las Cruces, NewMexico since 1962. He hasa BA from Earlham College,and a MAT from New MexicoState University.

While at Las Cruces High School he has taught courses in Genetics,Cell Biology, Marine Biology, Evolution, Botany, and Human Biology.He has been nominated for Outstanding Biology Teacher for NewMexico, for 1983-84. Every year since 1973 he has led studentcamping field trips to Puerto Penasco, Sonora, Mexico, for thestudy of intertidal marine biology. He has also taken students toSea World, and the Grand Canyon.

While in high school in Richmond, Indiana, he wrote many hobbyistarticles on cacti. In college he continued this writing, and tooka six month foreign study program in Mexico. Other writingsin-clude~ohbyist articles on tropical fish, an article on the useof computers in teaching biology, which included a model ofevolution by natural selection, and several articles in LAIFSJournal. Some of his color photos of marine organisms were used byThe University of Arizona Press in "A Handbook to the ConrrnonIntertidal Invertebrates of the Gulf of California" by Richard C.Brusca. This is his first book.

Note, added March 1998 (Revised December 3,2002)In the late 1980's my hobby greenhouse near Dona Ana,. New Mexico, burned and my

PlatyceriuJn collection was lost. In the spring of] 990, after a divorce, I retired from teaching andmoved to Ar.kansas. In 1992 I remarried and now live in :Mena, Arkansas, in the Ouachita (Watch­a-taw) Mountain.s, 100 miles north of Texarkana. I have a Platycerium collection, but it is notnearly as big as what I had in New Mexico. I have made two trips to Austr~ and several toPeru. I wrote another book, "Mena and the "Queen Wilhelmina IIlIl, a brief History," which Ipublished in 1995. My main other interests are photography and little theatre.

Note, added November 2000, (Revised December 3, 2002)As the photos on pages 158 and 164B show, I have become heavily involved in studying and

preserving the habitat of platycerium andinum in Peru. I consider the photos on page 158 to bethe finest photos ever published of Pla1ycerium andinum. They were taken from a dirt publicroad near Picota, San Martin, Pem. (The next note tells what happened to the area) The photo atthe top of Page 196-B is more typical because Plat)'cerium andinum is an understOlY plant.Articles about this effort have been published in the LAIFS Fern Journal, the latest being inVolume 27, Number 5, August 2000. TIlere was another in April 2000. 'The area is tropical dryforest, a rare ecosystem.

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The effort began in 1996, in Tarapoto (ram-PO-toe) San Martin, Peru, which is the lectotypelocality for Platycerium andinum. Earlier I had been part of a group lead by Mr. Lee Moore, ofMiami. We fomd that not only was Platycerium andinum becoming rare in that area, fewcitizens knew what it was. I made several trips to Tarapoto, where I spoke to many mayors,newspapers, radio stations, gave out color post cards, and a booklet about Platycerium andinumand why it should be saved. From home I mailed a copy of my booklet addressed only to theBiology Department of the University of San Martin, in Tarapoto, not knowing what to expect.To my amazement, I received an e-mail, in English, from a young instructor, Marco Leon, whohad even read Platycerium Hobbyist's Handbook.

Eventually a magnificent area was located, closer to Picota (pea-CO-ta) than Tarapoto. A veryactive student group formed at a teacher's college in Picota. They named themselves the"Chullachaqui" (chew-ya-CHA-key) after a small spirit, like a leprechaun that lives in the forest.Legend says a chullachaqui has one foot larger than the other. If you are lost in 1he forest, andintend to do the forest harm, a chullachaqui will take the shape ofa friend and lead you deeper anddeeper into the forest, getting you more and more lost. So, when you are trying to find your wayout ofa forest, you should watch your own feet to be sure they remain the same size, so you willknow you are not following a chullachaqui.

One of the most rewarding letters I ever received from Peru was from 1he president of theChullachaqui, in less than perfect English. Part of it said, "Thank you for your trust with us, thedream that you have I know it benefits all the world and we never going to fail your trust."

In the December 1998 LAIFS Fern Journal, Volume 26, Number 1, Barbara Joe Hoshizakidescribed Plo1ycerium 'Home's Surprise,' which is probably a cross between Platyceriummadogascariense and 1he mainland form ofPlatycerium aJcicorne. It is a nice plant, far easier togrow than Platycerium madagascariense.

Note, added JlU1e 29, 2001 (revised December 3,2002)The "Microcuencia del Bombonjillo," ecological preserve in the district of San Martin, Peru,

was dedicated June 8, 2001. It is a 12,900-hectare (49.8 square mile) Municipal preserve of thecities of Picota and Bellavista. The Chullachaqui changed its name to «Area de ProtecctionMunicipal EI Quinillal." Marco Leon is leading the effort in Peru. He believes that to be trulyprotected the preserve must become Federal, which will require a biological inventory and aneconomic impact study. As far as I can find, this is the ONLY preselVe on Earth made to save thehabitat ofa fern.

The work in Peru brought me in contact with Ricardo Fernandez, a botanist from Lima. Wehave submitted a paper, to The American Fern JournaL which extends the range ofPlatyceriumandinum and comments on its biology. Recent reports from Bolivia need to be added.

The VollUlle 28, Number 1, Jan~Feb. 2001 issue ofllie Fiddlehead forum (ISSN 0733-8015) hasmy article "The Vail Theory" which suggests that the shape ofthe top halves ofthe shield frondsin Pllltycerium tells a lot about the environment where the species lives, and therefore how to carefor it. Species like Platycerium bijilrcatum that are open on the top are adapted to collecting andconserving water from above. They are native to tropical dry forests and can tolerate some dryperiods. Species like Platycerium hiUii, Plotycerium madagascarense and Platycerium ridleyi,that are closed on the top, are not adapted to collecting water and therefore must be native to rainforests and can not be expected to tolerate dry periods.

The article also suggests there are three forms ofPlatycerium clusters, the ball, the basket andthe ring. Pup forming species from rain forests fonn balls, closed at the top. Examples:Plotycerium hillii, Plotycerium e1lisii, and Plotyceriwn madagascarense. Pup forming speciesfrom tropical dry forests fonn either baskets or rings. plotycerium bijUrcatum fOnDS baskets, amass of plants, open at the top, which fimctions like a water-collecting vessel. Cutting a plantfrom its bottom may cause the cluster's water to run out. TIle cluster patches its leaks by fonningpups in wet spots, which explains why pups fonn lmder my watering spittcrs.

Giant species such as Plotycerium andinum, Plo1ycerium coronarium, Platyceriumelephantotus, and Platycerium wilIinckii tend to fOnD rings rather than baskets, possibly becausetheir large individuals would shade out pups that appeared tmdemeath. I have received no badcomments about this article. -

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TIle October 2000 issue ofLAIFS Journal, Volume 26, Number 7, has a short article of minewith photos that show how the veins in 1he dead shields of PloJycerium eJephantotus curveforward when they are dry, but quickly become straight when they are wet. nus would cause thetop ofa plant to be open when dry, but to close as it became wet.

I am also becoming convinced that some1hing Helen Shortt told me years ago is very true.Large species like PIatycerium andinum, and Platycerium elephantotus, depend on leaves andtrash falling from above to fill the spaces between their shields. Since this does not happen incollections, it is important to pack the spaces between the shields with sphagnum moss, but notpeat moss because it holds too rrmch moisture. Without this, over time, the roots, which growfrom the bud, will have nothing to grow into and the plant will die.

Barbara Joe Hoshizaki and Robin C. Moran have published a revisededition of "Fern Grower's Manuel." The 504-page book from TimberPress, ISBN No. 0-88192-945-4, premiered at a special book signing atFairchild Tropical Garden in Miami in April 2001. They too use thenames Platycerium aldcorne and Platycerium elephantotus in placeofPIatycerium vassei and Platycerium angolense.

Sadly, Jerry Home has completely retired from the nursery business.Charles Alford is now the main mail order supplier ofPlatycerium. Heprefers to grow even Plotycerium eIephantotus from spore, which hesows without separating the spores from the chaff. The very uniqueplant he produced appeared to be a cross between Platycerium ridleyiand Platycerium wandae (!!) DNA studies never became available,however Barbara Joe Hoshizaki. concluded from detailed observationsthat it was mutation of Platycerium wandae. In her paper, published inFiddlehead forum, Bulletin of the American Fern Society, Volume 28,

/AU:.II ... (

Number 3, May-July 2001 she named it Platycerium 'Charles Alford.'The drawing at the right is from her paper.

Miles Goodman of San Diego, who raises many Plo.tycerium from spore and distributes 'them,and my book, to rmrseries in southern California, told me that Steve Talnadge died at age 89 inmid June 2001. After he sold his .home in Chula Vista he moved to a trailer in Imperial Beach,California. Miles commented, "Steve was best known for reaching many collectors of staghornsand selling and generating interest in Platycerium. He was well known in Soufuem California andsold thousands of plants at the annual DelMar County Fair. By naming many cultivars, he helpedpopularize the field and fonned the fuundation of many collections. Until this time, most plantswere identified by number or, by association with the person that grew the plants." His daughter­ill-law Velma Talnadge grew and sold Platycerium for many years in Spring Valley, California,but no longer does.

Many web sites relate to Platycerium. My story is at:httQllb-9!ll~-,.~~.:..~.t!~vailrQylind~x.hJ:m!

(Which might be removed any day now since I no longer use Earthlink)Since non-commercial websites are free in Geocities, and their template is easy to use, I have

posted several.ht!:Q;f!~-,K~~9j!!~~:~QIPj'y~,jJ!Q.YlPJ~!Y£~n1lm~.h!mJ (A place I post pictures)l!tm:II~,g~.Q_q!tjY.$--,~om!Rt!a-RQto'perul.~Y91QgyJItml (Story ofmy efforts in Peru)htl1?~,{L~.geo_qj~§-,com/y.~ltQyf~.htm1(peru News)bJtp:l(~--M-Q-fi.ti~s.com£.Yillk9.YL~~_QiQ~t!Q:[lJrl;mJ.(peru News)htlP.:lf.~J2l~!Y9-mtm!:~Q.,~(Our Platycerium site)

Ifyou e-mail me at Yl!-ilrQy@h-Q!m.illl&om I will be glad to send you a more complete URL list.I make these books in sets of 25. After considerable thought, I invested in a newer copy

machine-my third, lOaD new covers, and a bar code. It would be a milestone to keep this bookin print for 20 years, which will be October 2004. Perhaps by then I can produce a revised CD-Rversion, which can have color pictures and be far easier to produce. The fimction of this book hasalways been to promote Platyceriwn. Since 1984 its price has only increased once,Roy Vail, Mena, Arkansas

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