Platycerium ridleyi

Platycerium ridleyi originates from Thailand and West Malesia and is one of the smaller staghorn ferns. It reaches a shield diameter of approximately 30 cm and a frond span of approximately 50 cm, but usually remains considerably smaller. The veins on its mantle fronds are conspicuously raised. In nature, it often lives with an ant colony beneath the mantle fronds, and it is assumed that these ants move through these tunnels under the fronds.

The sporophylls of P. ridelyi are narrow, forked multiple times, and carried erect (rather than pendulous). The spores themselves appear on spoon-shaped projections.

It grows best when mounted or attached sideways to a substrate such as cork. There, it can develop its characteristic antler shape. This species should be kept consistently slightly moist and requires plenty of light to thrive. Water carefully in a terrarium. If kept too moist or overwatered, this plant can quickly rot!



You will receive a strong plant in a 13 cm orchid pot. Some will already have their first spore-bearing structures!