''Platycerium grande'', the giant staghorn fern, capa de leon (''

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

'': lion's cape), and dapong repolyo ('' Filipino'': air cabbage), is a species of

epiphytic An epiphyte is a plant or plant-like organism that grows on the surface of another plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it. The plants on which epiphyt ...

fern The ferns (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta) are a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. They differ from mosses by being vascular, i.e., having specialized tissue ...

in the family

Polypodiaceae Polypodiaceae is a Family (biology), family of ferns. In the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I), the family includes around 65 genus, genera and an estimated 1,650 species and is placed in the order Polypodiales, suborder ...

. It is one of the two staghorn ferns native to the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

, along with ''P. coronarium'', and is endemic to the island of

Mindanao Mindanao ( ) is the List of islands of the Philippines, second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and List of islands by population, seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the ...

, in the provinces of Zamboanga, Lanao and Davao. ''P. grande'' is often collected from the forests and sold as a highly prized ornamental plant. Due to overcollection and the difficulty of the spores to germinate under natural conditions, ''in vitro'' technique is necessary to ensure mass production of this plant species. The local government categorized it as

critically endangered species An IUCN Red List critically endangered (CR or sometimes CE) species is one that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. As of December 2023, of the ...

Gallery

File:Giant_staghorn_fern_(Platycerium_grande)_,_Philippine_Eagle_Center,_Davao,_Philippines.jpg , ''P. grande'' in cultivation File:Stag_Horn_Fern_(Platycerium_grande).jpg , Nursery-grown seedlings of ''P. grande'' File:Platycerium grande (7).JPG , Close-up shot of ''P. grande'' frond

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4364579 grande Endemic flora of the Philippines Plants described in 1850 Epiphytes