IRISH GARDENING 



VOLUME XVI 

 No. 182 



Editor-J- W. Besant. 



A MONTHLY JOURNAL DEVOTED TO THE 



ADVANCEMENT OF HORTICULTURE AND 



ARBORICULTURE IN IRELAND 



APRIL 

 1921 



Platy ceriums or Staghorn Ferns. 



(lUustmted.) 

 By Mr. J. van den Berg. 





AMONG Ferns the Platyceriunis or 

 Staghorn Ferns are a very interesting 

 and peculiar group, useful for the trop- 

 ical house. They derive the name Stag- 

 horn Ferns from the fact that many of 

 their leaves branch in such a way that 

 they plainly recall the horns of a stag. 

 Natives of Africa, America, Australia, 

 and Asia, the Platyceriums grow on the 

 stems and branches of trees, and are, 

 therefore, epiphytic plants. They clasp 

 the stems and branches with the barieii 

 leaves,while the fertile leaves grow out, 

 so that in the Platyceriums two sorts of 

 leaves or fronds are produced — namely, 

 centripetal and centrifugal leaves. 

 Generally, these differing leaves are 

 called sterile and fertile leaves, owing 

 to the fact that the sterile leaves serve 

 as flower pots, while the fertile leaves 

 produce spores, necessary for propaga- 

 tion. Both sorts of leaves are green- 

 coloured, and al)le to prepare food ma- 

 terial for the plant, but the centripetal, 

 or sterile, leaves decay much soonei', 

 and later on turn brown. Both are fur- 

 nished with a felty substance, which 

 shows that they prefer a dry, rather 

 than a moist, atmosphere. Watering 

 never should l)e done on, l)ut between, 

 the leaves, and only in the morning on 

 a sunny day, so that the plants can 

 dry during the rest of the day. One 

 of the principal things regarding the cultivation 

 of Platyceriums is the question of the feeding 

 (food). I liave often seen Platyceriums in collec- 

 tions of plants making a very poor show because 

 they were in want of food. One often thinks 

 Phityceriums are epiphytic plants growing against 

 trees, and, except for a small quantity of decayed 

 leaves, living only on air and water. Having 

 plants in cultivation in a hothouse, we only give 

 them, in addition to a small quantity of soil, ait- 

 end iruter; but this is wrong, and we think too 

 much of the word epiphytic. 



Thinking of the Platyceriums as they grow in 

 nature, we will see birds, monkeys, and other 

 animals taking shelter during the night between 

 the leaves, and, leaving this place in the morning, 

 the excrements are left, while sometimes a sick 

 animal dies on the spot itself, remaining as food 

 for the plant, and thus we t-an easily imderstand 

 that Platyceriums get mote than air and water. 

 By strong feeding, with a mixture of leaf soil, 

 sphagnum, peat, sand, and a good quantity of old 



cow manure, and giving some liquid mantire three 

 to four times during the summer months, strong 

 and healthy-looking plants will be obtained, some- 

 times growing to a considerable size. 



Excepting some Platyceriums which can be 

 propagated by division, the best way of propagat- 

 ing is by sowing spores. Sown in a clean seed i^an 

 on very fine soil, and covered with a glass plate, 

 these spores sometimes germinate after a few 

 weeks, at other times after a few months. When 

 the yomig plants are raised we can transplant them 

 into pots. However, the best plan is to bind them 

 against a piece of cork. In this cork one little 

 hole is made, through which we put a piece of 

 copper wire, so that our plant is able to hang. Pre- 

 paring a soil mixture of sphagnum, leaf soil, peat, 

 sand and charcoal powder, not forgetting some old 

 cow manure, we make a little bed of this soil on 

 the piece of cork. Putting our Platycerium on this 

 soil, and covering the soil with sphagnum, we bind 

 it all together on the cork with some copper wire, 

 without touching the plant itself. Thus settled on 

 the cork, we hang our Platycerium quite near the 

 glass, and soon it will start to grow. When water- 

 ing is necessary, this will be done between the cork 

 and the plant. It is unnecessary to say that after 

 a year or so, when the plant is bigger, we have to 

 replace it against a larger piece of cork. 



The following species and varieties are cultivated 

 in the Botanic Gardens at Groningen (Holland). 

 In this Botanic Garden a beautiful collection of 

 Platyceriums — certainly one of the best in Europe — 

 is to be seen, and many beautiful Platyceriums are 

 raised and cultivated here from spores : — 



1. FJ. alHcorne {PI. hifurcatiun), a native of 

 Australia, is one of the commonest. The plant is 

 narrow-leaved, while each leaf is twice or more 

 branched. In a young state, the leaves are fur- 

 nished with a felt-like covering. Varieties of this 

 kind are Fl. alcicorne var. majiis — var. HilUi and 

 var. Hillii majus. 



2. Fl. grand e is certainly the largest of the Platy- 

 ceriums. The centrifugal leaves are very big, and 

 branched in a beautiful way. We have seen plants 

 of this species more than three feet in diameter, 

 and leaves with thirty-two branches. On the back 

 of the leaves s])ores are to be found at the base of 

 the first ramification, and a large area is occupied. 

 Fl. (jrande not making runners (young plants), and 

 dividing being thus impossible, is only propagated 

 by spores. 



3. Fl. Wallichii, from the Malay Peninsula, is 

 much like Fl. gmnde. The centripetal leaves are 

 divided very dee])ly. The centrifugal leaves are 

 yellow, woolly-haired, deeply bipartite, with 



