Common name: Staghorn
Platycerium superbum de Jonch. & Hennipman APNI*
Description: Bracket epiphyte, rhizome hardly branched.
Sterile `nest leaves' often 60 c. or more diam., the upper part spreading, wedge-shaped, the margin deeply and irregularly lobed, remaining green for a number of years, then becoming brown and papery.
Fertile fronds 75–160 cm long, spreading to pendent, dichotomously divided 4–6 times, the ultimate segments 1.5–4 cm wide; sporangia in a single large patch 10–50 cm diam., situated in the fork of the first dichotomy of the lamina. Plantlets not formed.
Distribution and occurrence: Mainly epiphytic in rainforest; north from Nabiac on the Manning R.
NSW subdivisions: NC
Other Australian states: Qld
Text by Peter G. Wilson Taxon concept: P.D. Bostock & T.M. Spokes (1998)
APNI* Provides a link to the Australian Plant Name Index (hosted by the Australian National Botanic Gardens) for comprehensive bibliographic data ***The AVH map option provides a detailed interactive Australia wide distribution map drawn from collections held by all major Australian herbaria participating in the Australian Virtual Herbarium project.
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