Platycerium

An epiphytic fern with two distinct frond types: sterile shield fronds that attach to the substrate and collect debris, and fertile fronds that are forked and antler-shaped, growing up to 90cm long. Forms colonies through vegetative reproduction. Produces spores on the undersides of fertile fronds.

Platycerium ridleyi is a compact epiphytic staghorn fern in the family Polypodiaceae, native to the lowland forests of peninsular Thailand, the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra and Borneo. Its corrugated nest fronds (sterile fronds that clasp the support) have entire margins and conspicuous veins, measure 20 to 50 cm long, and overlap to form a rounded, cabbage-like mass that can enclose a whole branch. Ants often nest in the chambers between these fronds, and the species is frequently found together with ant ferns (Lecanopteris). Unlike most species in the genus, the stiff, leathery fertile fronds grow upward rather than hanging down, reaching 25 to 50 cm or more and forking like antlers, with an oval spore patch 5 to 17 cm long. Plants usually reach about 0.5 to 0.6 m tall and wide and grow slowly. It is closely related to Platycerium coronarium, which has pendulous fertile fronds. It is considered extinct in Singapore.

Platycerium superbum is a large epiphytic staghorn fern in the family Polypodiaceae, native to rainforests of eastern Australia. Its kidney-shaped sterile nest fronds can exceed 60 cm and reach about 1 m across, forming an upright basket that catches rain and falling leaf litter and channels water and nutrients to the roots. The fertile foliage fronds, usually produced in pairs, hang down and fork repeatedly, reaching up to about 2 m long; spores develop in a single patch near the first fork. The fertile fronds appear only after the nest fronds have matured. Unlike many species in the genus, it rarely produces offsets (pups), so it is propagated mainly from spores.