Mature cultivated Platycerium wandae at Haruhana in Taiwan, showing the complete plant with its immense upright shield basket and long hanging fertile fronds.
Mature · September 17, 2026 · Photo: Johnny Lee · © World Platycerium Society · All rights reservedRecognize P. wandae by its giant solitary basket, asymmetrical fertile fronds, and distinctive leafy frill around the growing point. P. superbum has one central spore patch per frond; P. grande has more evenly divided fronds; P. holttumii lacks the same conspicuous crown frill.
- Species
- Platycerium wandae Racib.
- Reported origin
- Indonesia · Papua New Guinea Details
Care
Growing this plant
Care difficulty: IntermediateKeep the air humid to help it hold its shape. Dry air can make the tips of the crown and hanging fronds shrink and become rounded. Leave plenty of space: warm weather and feeding can help it grow large quickly.
Give it bright, filtered daylight, such as near a bright window with strong sun softened by a sheer curtain. A grow light can help if daylight is limited.
Description
How this plant is recognized
A giant solitary epiphyte that normally develops one growing point. It occurs from sea level to approximately 1,000 m (3,280 ft), often high in the tree canopy. Its overlapping shields form a massive upright basket that catches falling leaves and other organic material. Although several plants may occur in the same area or host tree, each grows as a separate individual rather than forming an interconnected colony.
Mature shield fronds form an immense basket approximately 100–125 cm (39–49 in) tall and 100–135 cm (39–53 in) wide. Their spreading upper portions divide four to six times into upright lobes, while older shields curve backward. Near the growing point, the shield margins produce a conspicuous frill of small branching, leaf-like structures.
Mature fertile fronds are produced in pairs and reach approximately 50–135 cm (20–53 in) long. Each is strongly asymmetrical, dividing into two unequal main sections. Both sections can carry a broad horizontal spore-producing patch. The inner section hangs downward and forks three or four times, while the shorter outer section remains broad and comparatively simple.
Recognize P. wandae by its giant solitary basket, asymmetrical fertile fronds, and distinctive leafy frill around the growing point. P. superbum has one central spore patch per frond; P. grande has more evenly divided fronds; P. holttumii lacks the same conspicuous crown frill.
Classification
Where this plant belongs
Platycerium
Platycerium wandae Racib.
Names and usage
Original name · Latin
Origin & history
What is known so far
Where this plant came from and how its identity developed.
Reported originIndonesia; Papua New Guinea · Maluku and the Aru Islands through New Guinea to the Bismarck Archipelago
Platycerium wandae is native from Maluku through New Guinea to the Bismarck Archipelago. The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, a botanical research institution in the United Kingdom, accepts it in its Plants of the World Online database. It grows in lowland swamp forest and lower-montane rainforest, and also occurs on large trees in plantations and along roads.
1902
Polish botanist Marian Raciborski published Platycerium wandae in 1902 from a plant sent to the Bogor Botanic Gardens in 1899. The plant came from Doreh on the northwestern coast of New Guinea, near present-day Manokwari. It arrived badly damaged after its long journey. A second name was later applied to the same giant fern, but a detailed 1968 comparison established that both descriptions represented one species and that the earlier name P. wandae had priority.
Supporting photographs
Other documented views
Closer view of a mature cultivated Platycerium wandae at Haruhana, showing the enormous divided shield fronds, central growing point, and broad fertile-frond bases.
Shield frond · September 17, 2026 · Photo: Johnny Lee · © World Platycerium Society · All rights reservedUnderside of mature Platycerium wandae fertile fronds at Haruhana, showing the broad rust-brown spore-producing patches and hanging divided sections.
Fertile frond · September 17, 2026 · Photo: Johnny Lee · © World Platycerium Society · All rights reservedPropagation
What has been observed
Documented propagation
- Produces fertile spores
Evidence
Documented claims
Historical and factual accounts shown with their review status and supporting sources.
Propagation
Propagation from spores
Spores of P. wandae have been germinated and raised through gametophyte development under controlled conditions.
Taxonomy
Platycerium wandae is an accepted species
Platycerium wandae is an accepted naturally occurring species in Polypodiaceae.
Nomenclature
Original material and publication
Marian Raciborski published P. wandae in 1902 from a living plant collected near Doreh in northwestern New Guinea and sent to the Bogor Botanic Gardens in 1899.
Nomenclature
One species under the earlier name
A detailed comparison published in 1968 established that the giant fern later described under a Queen Wilhelmina name was the same species and that the earlier name P. wandae had priority.
Native range
Maluku to the Bismarck Archipelago
The accepted native range extends from Maluku and the Aru Islands through New Guinea to the Bismarck Archipelago.
Habitat
Canopy epiphyte from sea level to 1,000 m
The species grows high on trees in lowland swamp forest and drier lower-montane rainforest from sea level to approximately 1,000 m and also occurs on planted and roadside trees.
Growth form
Solitary giant staghorn fern
Platycerium wandae normally develops as a solitary plant with one growing point and an enormous basket of overlapping shield fronds.
Description
Enormous shield basket with a crown frill
Shield fronds reach approximately 100–125 by 100–135 cm, divide four to six times above, and produce a conspicuous frill of small branching structures around the growing point.
Description
Paired asymmetrical fertile fronds
Mature fertile fronds occur in pairs, reach approximately 50–135 cm, and divide into two unequal main sections that can each bear a broad horizontal spore patch.
Identification
Distinctive leafy crown around the growing point
The combination of a giant solitary basket, paired fertile fronds with two unequal sections, and a conspicuous leafy frill surrounding the growing point distinguishes mature P. wandae from other giant staghorn ferns.
Source register
Riccardo Ciarle; Katrijn de Bock; Kevin C. Burns
Evolutionary origins and life-history correlates of coloniality in the epiphytic fern genus Platycerium ↗︎2025S. Espinosa-Matías et al.
Gametophyte morphology of Platycerium andinum Baker and Platycerium wandae Racib. ↗︎2010Kew Science — Plants of the World Online
Platycerium wandae Racib. ↗︎Date not establishedInternational Plant Names Index
Platycerium wandae Racib. ↗︎Date not establishedG.J. de Joncheere
Notes on Platycerium Desv. II. P. wilhelminae-reginae v.A.v.R. reduced to P. wandae Rac. ↗︎1968P.H. Hovenkamp; M.C. Roos
Flora Malesiana, Series II, Volume 3: Platycerium ↗︎Date not establishedE. Hennipman; M.C. Roos
A monograph of the fern genus Platycerium (Polypodiaceae) ↗︎1982杉山拓巳
全年度 鹿角蕨栽培基礎書Date not established
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