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Moss, Ferns & Cryptogams

staghorn fern spore tips

19 years ago

hi again gang... I've got some staghorns that are producing spore ends on the tips of the staghorn leaves. I'd like to be a junior scientist and see if I can make these babies reproduce somehow... ummm... or at least collect them in a manner that someone who knows what they're doing, can use them. (Meaning... I'd like to put them on my barter list but want to make sure I'm harvesting the spores in the right fashion.) Of course, I have zero clue as to the species of staghorn fern it is... but I figure someone on here would be brilliant enough to identify it for me.

hi again gang... I've got some staghorns that are producing spore ends on the tips of the staghorn leaves. I'd like to be a junior scientist and see if I can make these babies reproduce somehow... ummm... or at least collect them in a manner that someone who knows what they're doing, can use them. (Meaning... I'd like to put them on my barter list but want to make sure I'm harvesting the spores in the right fashion.) Of course, I have zero clue as to the species of staghorn fern it is... but I figure someone on here would be brilliant enough to identify it for me.

(let's see if this works for a picture of the plant)

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/onefemaildog/detail?.dir=3873&.dnm=fa9d.jpg

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Comment (1)

phudnall
19 years ago
If you're anywhere near Houston on the 15th of May I'm giving a presentation on growing Stags at the monthly meeting of the Texas Gulf Coast Fern Society (TGCFS)see www.rwsarchitects.com. 2PM at the Houston Garden Club in Hermann Park. I'll briefly cover spore propagation. And, if mine is ripe by then, I'll bring spore from P. holttumii. One of our members has given entire presentations on spore reproduction including lots of hands on.
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I'd guess, if as you mentioned that tree it's on needs to come down, and it's not very huge in girth , you could remove the entire thing by cutting the trunk just above and below the area where the staghorn is attached and leaving the entire plant intact , and still attached to the "log" you'd get. Might take some finesse to cut the tree without damaging the fern however. I would guess as well, the roots don't extend into the "trunk" itself but are only attached to the outer bark of the tree and that might be removed possibly?? Not that familiar with mango tree bark however, and it might be more difficult than I'd expect.
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