Platycerium bifurcatum (common staghorn fern, "Bikakushida")

Japanese name: ビカクシダ （麋角羊歯）
Scientific name: Platycerium bifurcatum

[Overview]
A large evergreen fern that grows epiphytically on trees and rocks.
It is distributed mostly in regions with dry and rainy seasons.
There are two types of leaves: flat storage leaves (also called bare leaves or mantle leaves) at the base, and spore leaves that resemble deer antlers.
The rhizome is thick and bears scales, many thin roots and leaves.
The leaves are alternate.
The storage leaves are about 20–30 cm across and adhere closely to the host tree; some have a rounded lower part with an upright, shallowly lobed upper part, and others are rounded throughout. They contain water-storing tissue and turn brown early, but do not fall off.
The spore leaves are about 60–100 cm long and leathery; the upper half is wedge-shaped, spreading like a fan, and forks 2–5 times.
The leaf lobes are flat and strap-like.
The sporangia are borne from the tips of the terminal lobes to their bases, sometimes even further down.

[Cultivation]
Propagate by division, though propagation from spores is also possible.
It prefers warm, humid partial shade, but if kept on the dry side in winter it can tolerate temperatures close to 0°C.
For pot culture, fill the pot with tree fern chips or similar and fix the plant in place by wrapping it in sphagnum moss. When mounting on a tree fern board, fix the plant with string with sphagnum moss placed in between.
When the plant grows large and its lower part becomes covered with storage leaves, drainage worsens and the plant weakens, so either make drainage holes in the storage leaves or divide the plant.
Scale insects may attack it, so it is best to kill them as soon as they are found.

[Notes]
The Japanese name compares the shape of the spore leaves to the antlers of the large deer (ojika, 麋).

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