Platycerium bifurcatumElkhorn Fern

Platycerium bifurcatum, the Elkhorn Fern, is an epiphyte that grows on trees and rock rather than in soil, and it carries two completely different kinds of frond: flat, rounded shield fronds that clasp the host and catch falling litter, and grey-green forked fertile fronds that hang down from them. Over years it builds a spreading clump of overlapping shields.

It is mounted on a board, a post or a host trunk, and it is one of the few plants that turns a blank shaded wall into a planted surface without a soil volume.

Specifications

• Height0.5 to 1 metre
• Width0.6 to 1.5 metres, widening steadily as the clump builds
• Native toEastern Australia, New Guinea and Java
• FoliageTwo frond types: flat rounded shield fronds clasping the host, and hanging grey-green forked fertile fronds; evergreen
• Growth rateSlow to moderate

Conditions

• SoilGrown without soil, mounted on a board, post or tree trunk, or set in a coarse open basket medium
• LightPartial shade; bright indirect light and no hot afternoon sun
• WaterModerate; water the mount and let it dry slightly between waterings
• ClimateThrives in humid subtropical and warm temperate regions; tolerates light frost in a sheltered position

Additional Features

• FormSpreading clump of overlapping shields with cascading forked fronds
• UsesIdeal for mounting on walls, posts and host trees, vertical greening, shaded courtyards and interior schemes
• SpacingMounted individually, 1 to 1.5 metres apart for a run along a wall
• Low MaintenanceFeed occasionally behind the shield; never remove the brown shield fronds, which are functional rather than dead
• Pest ResistanceGenerally resilient; scale can gather on the frond undersides
• VersatilityMounted on a board, grown in a basket or naturalised onto a host tree

The Elkhorn Fern plants a shaded wall where there is no soil to plant into.