Staghorn fern
Sources last read 13 September 2026.
Difficult One of the harder ones, and one of the reasons the diagnosis tool exists.
Also called antelope ears, Australian elk's horn fern, common stag's horn fern, Common Staghorn Fern and elkhorn fern.
Toxicity is partly unassessed
What the sources say about its care
- Light
- Partial shadeRHS · read 13 September 2026
- Water
- Moist but well-drainedRHS · read 13 September 2026
- Humidity
No source read publishes a humidity figure for any plant on this site. What follows is general guidance for foliage plants.
ASHRAE recommends indoor relative humidity between 30% and 60% 30–60%Penn State Extension · read 13 September 2026- Temperature
How cold this tolerates, not what it prefers. No source read for this site publishes a preferred range for a plant indoors.
H1B — 10–15°C 10–15 °CRHS · read 13 September 2026- Soil
- Loam; pH NeutralRHS · read 13 September 2026
- Toxic to cats
- Listed as non-toxicASPCA · read 13 September 2026
- Toxic to dogs
- Listed as non-toxicASPCA · read 13 September 2026
- Harmful to people
- No statement of harm to people is published for this plant; that absence is not evidence it is safe.RHS · read 13 September 2026
How it usually goes wrong
- Dry, curled edges on fronds near a heater
A yellow halo sits just inside the brown edge on the staghorn fern, and new fronds often come in already tipped with brown during the heating season.
Dry air takes water from the leaf surface continuously, and the tissue at the edge is last in the queue for what the roots send up. Penn State Extension notes there is no single humidity figure that suits every indoor plant.
Telling it apart: Whether it crumbles or smears. Crisp is water lost; soft and dark is cold or rot.
Penn State ExtensionDiagnose brown tips and edges on this Staghorn fern- Pale, undersized fronds at the tips of the stems
The staghorn fern looks sparse rather than sick: fewer fronds, spaced further apart, all angled toward the window.
Placed darker than the partial shade its source describes, the plant invests in length rather than leaf, because length is what finds a window.
Telling it apart: Whether it leans. A plant reaching for a window is answering a light question, and it leans before it pales.
RHSDiagnose yellowing leaves on this Staghorn fern- Soft, sagging fronds low on the plant in soil that has not dried
Whole fronds yellow at once rather than browning at a margin, and the staghorn fern looks deflated despite soil that has not dried since it was watered.
A pot that does not dry between waterings keeps the roots in water rather than in damp soil, and the fronds above them yellow for want of what those roots can no longer send up.
Telling it apart: Two inches down with a finger. Above the soil, drowning and thirst look the same; below it they are opposites.
RHSDiagnose drooping on this Staghorn fern
Not sure which it is? Ask the diagnosis questions for Staghorn fern.
Routine care
- Watering
- Pots can be watered from below.NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026During growth, water generously, mist every day and feed monthly with a balanced liquid fertiliser. Give little water in winter.RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Feeding
- While growing, water generously, mist every day and feed monthly with a balanced liquid fertiliser.RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Propagation
- By division.NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026Sow ripe spores, or detach plantlets.RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Pruning
- Pruning is not needed.RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Pests and diseases
- Can be troubled by fern scale.NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026Scale insects can attack it. Disease is uncommon.RHS · read 13 September 2026
Move something and watch
Loading the simulator. It needs JavaScript; the care table above does not.
About the plant
Platycerium bifurcatum, commonly known as elkhorn fern, is a species of epiphytic plant in the fern family Polypodiaceae. It is native to Australia and is widespread on the entire east coast.
From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · read 13 September 2026
- Native range
- Jawa to New CaledoniaWorld Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026Jawa to New CaledoniaNC State Extension · read 13 September 2026Asia Polynesia AustraliaRHS · read 13 September 2026
- Growth form
- epiphyteWorld Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026Epiphyte, Fern; habit cascading, moundingNC State Extension · read 13 September 2026Tufted (evergreen)RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Size
- Height 24–36 in; width 24–36 inNC State Extension · read 13 September 2026Height 0.5-1 metres; spread 0.5-1 metres after 10–20 yearsRHS · read 13 September 2026
- Flowering
- No flowers.NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
Other Platycerium
More of the Polypodiaceae family
Alligator FernSourced care, difficulty not yet judged
ArachnoidesSourced care, difficulty not yet judged
Blue Star FernSourced care, difficulty not yet judged
Bold Sword FernSourced care, difficulty not yet judged
Dainty Rabbits-Foot FernSourced care, difficulty not yet judged
Davallia tyermaniiSourced care, difficulty not yet judged
Plants with similar care
Sources
- ASPCA · read 13 September 2026
- Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026
- NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
- Penn State Extension · read 13 September 2026
- RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Wikipedia · read 13 September 2026
What this does not cover
The figures above are what published sources say, not measurements of the plant in your room. They say nothing about your pot size, your water, the season, or how far from the glass the plant stands, and those decide more than any figure here does.
Humidity has no species figure because no source read for this site publishes one, and the only temperature published for this plant is a cold floor. The simulator fills those gaps with general figures for its kind of plant, marked as general and listed on how we read sources. Where a toxicity row says the plant was not assessed, that is the absence of a finding and not a finding of safety.
If something is already wrong, the diagnosis tool asks about the soil, the window and the watering, which is where the answer usually is.