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garyfla_gw

Too close??

garyfla_gw
9 years ago

hi
Mounted these at the end of May and they are scaring me with the growth rate.lol Should I move them now before they get much larger?? The staghorn was in a 3 inch pot and elkhorn had two fronds less than 3 inches long I knew these get large but so fast?? Thanks gary

Comments (11)

  • tropicbreezent
    9 years ago

    The one on the right is an Elkhorn. Not sure which one you're referring to as the Staghorn but this is a photo of one.
    {{gwi:610961}}

  • garyfla_gw
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    hi
    one on the right was labeled "platycerium bifurcatum"
    "Staghorn " One on the left was picked from a neighbors
    brush pile usually referred to localy as "Elkhorn" have no idea what the name is lol Wouldn't argue names of ferns lol Everybody seems to have different ones lol
    Whatever they are they are growing like weeds lol Think I should move them now ?? Both will get very large but I was thinking years down the road lol
    One on the left "trails " never has shields. was planning on it growing up into the canopy but seems to be "clumping" have grown both for many years but not attached to trees Higher up I have orchids and some epi vines ,lower I have a ring of broms and lichens
    All growing incredibly fast lol
    Thanks gary

  • tropicbreezent
    9 years ago

    Platycerium bifurcatum is the Elkhorn, Platycerium superbum is the Staghorn. Most nurseries are mainly only interested in the "ding' of cash registers and not in names. Your left side one looks like one I have (and have seen it growing out bush). It was sold to me as "Celery Fern", but still haven't been able to ID it. I suspect it's an Asplenium of some sort. The one out bush was growing on the ground in a lot of leaf litter. Mine is at the base of a tree behind some rocks. So I have it as a combination terrestrial/epiphyte/lithophyte. It probably has less contact with the ground than the other 2 surfaces. It's never made any attempt to climb up the tree. For that you should get Drynaria. Some Drynaria form clumps and only spread slowly. I have a lot of D. quercifolia which is like that. Another I have tends to run the rhizomes up the tree trunk and is a little more sparse. If you keep up the humidity that would probably get into the top of your trees. Neighbours 2 doors away have a tree with D. quercifolia covering a tree from half way up to nearly the top. They've lived there about 25 years, and so probably has the fern.

  • garyfla_gw
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    hi
    you want to discuss names lol Always try to avoid that with
    orchids and ferns lol.. Around here all are called "staghorns " unless of a rarer type then they use the latin name . If you said "elkhorn " you would get a raised eyebrow and corrected to "staghorn" lol I believe the one on the left is native to Central america certainly very similar ones. They refer to them as "staghorns" Come in at least 3 types much darker green and the "crested form " where the end of the frond forks with some types getting very frilly . i got it from a neighbor as I mentioned around 25 years ago
    When grown as an epiphyte it forms short runners forming concentric clumps when in a pot tend to curl over the lip. Takes a long time to establish as an epi usually lol I doubt if either will stay permanently in that location Depending on the success of other epis. Might be an asplenum but certainly not like other types that I'm familiar with?? No circular growth habit ever ?? Growth is always to the sides not center. Extremely easy to grow !!
    Saw one of the extreme forked examples at a local nusery They called it a "Frilly Dragons tongue"" no latin name at all lol love that name !!!
    another group that boggles the mind are the so called "footed ferns " Bears ,squirrels, rabbits ,hares deer, elephants,kangaroos and probably a dozen others lol probably every one has another name in another area?? lol Another complaint on common names . I've never got a cent out of my "money tree""!!! thanks gary

  • tropicbreezent
    9 years ago

    Both those Platyceriums are native here so getting the names right would be more important. Not unusual when plants get taken out of area names are changed to make them more 'exclusive' or 'unique' for marketing purposes. Like the Netherlands Elkhorn, just a P. bifurcatum that they multiplied by cloning and gave it a name because all plants, as clones, are identical. And exclusively available from the one company.

    There's about 600 to 700 species of Asplenium, the majority of which wouldn't be the 'birdsnest' type. Mine that I mentioned I believe is one of those non-birdsnest types, and it does look very much like yours.

    I don't have a Money Tree, but I'll take your hint and not bother getting one. By the way, in some scientific circles they call it "trivial" name rather than common name.

  • garyfla_gw
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    hi
    Speaking of names lol. Note the tree that its attached??
    I grew that from seed supplied as "Schizolobium amazonicum,different species than S. parahyba." According to every source I can find there is only one specie parahyba ,lists amazonicum as a pseudonym Quite rare in florida but commercially grown in S. America as a timber source . Seed co. still lists them as "amazonicum" Horrible landscape plant for many reasons but since I struggled so hard to grow it decided to keep it and use it for sunny epiphytes .
    Brings me to next naming lol Thought i'd put a Shomburgkia tibicinis in the crown while shopping discovered that it doesn't exist, name has been changed to Myrmecophila Also noted that the price almost doubled lol I'd bet dollars to donuts that nobody will know that name and if they do the price will be even higher lol. A rose is a rose right?? gary

  • tropicbreezent
    9 years ago

    I think one of the funnier naming stories is Alocasia 'Hilo Beauty'. The Plant hunter who first found it in South America (I think somewhere mid last century) thought "Elephant Ear, so therefore must be Alocasia". Then to get an edge in marketing (and probably to throw other plant hunters off the trail) they thought it'd sell better if people thought it was Hawaiian, hence the addition of "Hilo Beauty". Some 'knowledgible' people who realised it wasn't an Alocasia but looked a bit more like a Colocasia, C. esculenta being brought to the Hawaiian Islands by the native Hawaiians. So they started calling it Colocasia 'Hilo Beauty'. But in fact it turns out it's a Caladium, which is a South American genus, neither Alocasia nor Colocasia are. But the plant is still sold as both Alocasia and Colocasia 'Hilo Beauty', and never as a Caladium. We tend to buy plants from people who are market oriented, rather than science oriented.

  • garyfla_gw
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Hi
    Around here "hilo Beauty is always listed as a cultivar no attempt to define specie beyond aroid lol
    have noted that if a nursery has latin names i can expect to pay 2/3 times more for a similar plant lol. Now if they have latin ,cultivar, culture inst. expect to pay 5 times more lol
    Guess where I shop?? lol gary

  • garyfla_gw
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    hi
    This was sold to me as a Caladium.. Definitely an aroid not so sure about caladium?? gary

  • tropicbreezent
    9 years ago

    Gary, they are Caladiums. There's a lot sold here as well. They're cultivars/hybrids being bred in Thailand. By the way, "Hilo Beauty" is Caladium praetermissum.

  • garyfla_gw
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Hi
    They are touted here as "evergreen " but IME they are not BUT do extend the growing season by around 3 months
    Whatever they certainly look different than regular caladiums . I suspect they are intergeneric hybrid ? They certainly look and behave MUCh differently than regular caladiums . They sell a series called "stained glass" they have tansparent sections on the leaves in really odd colors
    Obviously a LOT of hybridizing going on there lol.
    my only objection to them is the cost around 5 times of regulars!!
    I have seen "Hilo Beauty " sold as "Giant and dwarf forms " locally never any other names or info . Don't know if they are different as I don't keep that variety
    looked about the same in the nursery.
    My favorites are the amazonica hybrids I saw some in Costa Rica that had leaf spreads of over 4 feet !!
    2 feet is the best I can do lol I suspect they were not amazonica particularly siince they were in a hotel lobby
    Whatever they were fantastic!!! gary

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