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Five Things You Didn’t Know about the Elkhorn Fern

Staghorn or Elkhorn Fern is a beautiful and epiphytic plant native to the new and old world tropics such as South America, Africa, Southeast Asia, Australia and New Guinea. Here are five things you might not know about this fern:

1.)    They get their name because their fronds look like the antlers of a staghorn deer. The plant bears two types of fronds: The sterile fronds are flat, round, and located at the base of the fern, and the fertile fronds are irregular, lobed, and usually ascending from the plant.

2.)    These ferns are commonly cultivated as ornamental plants and grow on trees and rocks and can be found in gardens, especially tropical gardens like the one at the Chaa Creek bar.

3.)    One of the most interesting things about the Elkhorn fern is that it does not need soil to grow.

4.)    The Staghorn ferns are epiphytes plants which mean they are air plants and are one of the most interesting plants to grow at home because it is quite easy to maintain.

5.)    The only problem with this fern is that it can grow so large that moving becomes a major project.

Do you know any other interesting feature of the Staghorn fern that is not mentioned on this list? If yes, we would love to hear it if you leave a comment below.

Tags: Africa, Australia and New Guinea, Belize Plants, Elkhorn Fern, medicinal plants of belize, native plants of Belize, Photos of plants in Belize, plants of belize, South America, Southeast Asia, Staghorn or Elkhorn Fern, Vegetation of Belize