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Lecanopteris carnosa; photograph Bernard DUPONT from FRANCE, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SABernard DUPONT from FRANCE, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Lecanopteris carnosa (Reinw.) Blume

Polypodiaceae · Sulawesi · listed by its genus as an epiphyte

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Lecanopteris carnosa, photograph (c) Isaac Krone, some rights reserved (CC BY)Lecanopteris carnosa, photograph author not stated, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons 3 photographs ›
Habitat figuresfrom few records
Cold floor (1 night in 100)
19.2°C
Record low 17.9 °C in 44 years, at a typical spot in the range NASA POWER
Warmest month, mean daily high
25°C
Apr, May, Sep, Oct and Nov at the habitat CHELSA
Rain a year (median across the range)
3,712mm
12 months of 25 mm or more in the median year CHELSA
Open-sky light
29–39DLI
Lowest to highest month (DLI) CHELSA
The year in the habitat's months, not shifted
  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec
A sharp rainy season, November to May (the habitat's months, not shifted), in a year of even temperature. rain rule, CHELSA
Not shifted: the shift rule does not apply to this habitat. The chart is in the habitat's months.

From few records: 5 records in 3 grid cells. The records.

Summary

Lecanopteris carnosa is a species of tropical fern in the genus Lecanopteris (family Polypodaceae) native to Borneo, Malaysia, the Philippines, Sumatra, and Sulawesi. It is an epiphyte, with thick, fleshy rhizome that forms hollow spaces up to 15 cm (6 in) thick that provide shelter for ants, making this a myrmecophyte as well as a succulent similar to others in this genus.

Quoted from Wikipedia, "Lecanopteris carnosa", CC BY-SA 4.0.

Cultivation

Grouped as an epiphyte, listed under the genus Lecanopteris in the archetype table, and Kew describes it as “epiphyte”.

Seasons

The rain rule reads a sharp season: 70% of the median year's rain (2,658 mm of 3,707 mm) falls in November to May. The temperature curve is flat, 0.6 °C between the warmest and coldest month, so the growing-season rule does not infer a growing season from it. Months are the habitat's, northern hemisphere. The habitat lies within 10° of the equator, where the shift rule does not apply, so they are not shifted for a collection elsewhere.

Rain

3,707 mm in the median year at the habitat, 2,658 mm of it November to May. Wettest month January at 465 mm, driest month August at 143 mm. Across the grid cells of the range the year's total runs 3,697 mm to 3,742 mm, the 10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year. The median of the cells' own yearly totals, 3,712 mm, is the year's rain at the top of the page; the 3,707 mm here is the median year's, the twelve monthly medians added, which the rain rule reads. Habitat calendar, northern hemisphere; median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA.

Light

Open sky over the habitat: 29 to 39 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 27, the highest 90th-percentile month 39).

Warmth and air
Temperature

Coldest: the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at a typical spot in the range is 19.2 °C, the absolute minimum 17.9 °C, no frost in 44 years (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 25.8 °C. Monthly means: the coldest month's mean nightly low 19.3 °C in September (across the grid cells of the range 16.5 °C to 19.9 °C), the warmest month's mean daily high 24.8 °C in October (median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). Cold floor: 19.2 °C, which is the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at a typical spot in the range (NASA POWER).

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 68 to 76% across the year (monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

How this section is made

Each card states this species' habitat figures with their sources, and what two fixed rules read from them; nothing here says what the plant does, wants or tolerates. The rules · the terms.

Seasons. Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the grid cells of the range: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve moves 4 °C or more and the habitat lies 10° or more from the equator. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain. CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the grid cells of the range. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light. CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Temperature. NASA POWER daily minima and maxima over 44 years at a typical spot in the range, lapse-corrected +749 m to its elevation; CHELSA monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range. The cold floor is the 1st-percentile night named in its sentence. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity. CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the grid cells of the range.

Group. Listed under the genus Lecanopteris in the archetype table, and Kew describes it as “epiphyte”. A group is taken only where Kew's description of the species agrees with the table's listing. The table gives no figure and no prose; the cold floor is the habitat's alone.

Climate across the habitat

From few records: this habitat climate is read from 5 records in 3 grid cells; a page says so under 12 records or 5 cells, and shows the figures as read.

Habitat months, northern hemisphere

Habitat climate of Lecanopteris carnosa through the yearWarmest months April, May, September, October and November, mean daily high 25 °C; coldest month September, mean nightly low 19.3 °C; 3,707 mm of rain in the median year (the twelve monthly medians added). Medians across the range, from CHELSA; the extremes at the edge from NASA POWER. Habitat months, northern hemisphere.15°20°25°30°25.8° 99th-percentile day, NASA POWER17.9° lowest night in 44 years, NASA POWER°C · day and nightcold quarter0100200300400500mm rainDLI 29–39RH 68–76%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain medians and 10th–90th percentile across 3 habitat cells, CHELSA cold quarter: the three months around the coldest month's mean nightly low extremes over 44 years at a typical spot in the range, from NASA POWER, marked at the edge, in no month DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C24 / 23–2424 / 23–2424 / 24–2525 / 24–2525 / 24–2524 / 23–2524 / 23–2524 / 23–2525 / 24–2525 / 24–2525 / 24–2524 / 24–25
Night °C20 / 17–2020 / 17–2020 / 17–2020 / 17–2120 / 18–2120 / 17–2120 / 17–2019 / 17–2019 / 17–2020 / 17–2020 / 17–2020 / 17–20
Rain mm465 / 450–478390 / 388–397374 / 371–408325 / 325–337320 / 313–324287 / 278–290186 / 184–201143 / 142–150163 / 163–164270 / 230–272376 / 370–380408 / 407–418
DLI29 / 28–2931 / 30–3134 / 33–3433 / 32–3331 / 30–3130 / 29–3133 / 32–3337 / 36–3839 / 37–3937 / 35–3731 / 30–3229 / 27–29
RH %76 / 74–7876 / 73–7775 / 72–7674 / 72–7474 / 72–7473 / 72–73716868 / 66–6870 / 68–7174 / 72–7576 / 73–78
How this section is made
Each figure is the median across the 3 grid cells holding the 5 in-range records, with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. A dash is a month one or more of those cells has no figure for in the grid (a variable CHELSA does not carry there), so no median is taken rather than one over fewer cells. Extremes and elevation were read at a typical spot in the range, cell 1773:6097 (1.325, 124.875). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum 17.9 °C, 1st-percentile night 19.2 °C, 99th-percentile day 25.8 °C. Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Across the range: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 3 distinct grid cells holding 5 of the 5 in-range records; extremes and elevation at the typical cell 1773:6097 (its coldest month's mean nightly low nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell 1.50_125.000, lapse-corrected +749 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 907 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across the cells of the in-range records placed well enough to read one, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.
NativeSulawesi · regions are the level-3 units of the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, as Kew's World Checklist records ranges, some under historical names such as Yugoslavia or Czechoslovakia (how).
Map marker0.764, 124.442 · in the densest population, 6 records (100% of those in range)
Kew's description“epiphyte” · “wet tropical” · quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Evidence usedThe map marker rests on all 6 georeferenced records inside the native range; the climate across the range on the 5 of them placed to within 10 km; the map shows only the 2 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker in the same place. 12 records outside the WCVP native range not used. Under a dozen records behind the map and the climate. 1 in-range record is placed to worse than 10 km, or with no stated accuracy (admitted only as a person's observation to three decimals), and stays on the map but off the climate.
How this section is made
The map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population of the 6 in-range records; it decides nothing. Records outside the native range, living specimens and records marked introduced are not used; which records count.

Photographs

Lecanopteris carnosa, photograph 1did not loadLecanopteris carnosa, photograph 2did not load

Photographs: (c) Isaac Krone, some rights reserved (CC BY); author not stated, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Similar habitat climate The 6 nearest by mean daily high, mean nightly low and rain, month by month. How.

Huntleya wallisii Huntleya wallisii Ariana’s Beauty Photo: CC BY, Josh Noseworthy Etlingera polycarpa Zingiberaceae Nepenthes papuana Nepenthes papuana Nepenthaceae Photo: CC BY-SA, Thomas GronemeyerColumnea spathulata Columnea spathulata Gesneriaceae Photo: CC BY, Daniel MesaAreca vestiaria Areca vestiaria Red crownshaft palm Photo: CC BY, Fabian BrambachColumnea eburnea Columnea eburnea Gesneriaceae Photo: CC BY, Nolan Exe

Other Lecanopteris 10 in the reference

Lecanopteris celebica Lecanopteris celebica Polypodiaceae Photo: CC BY, Cheongweei GanLecanopteris crustacea Lecanopteris crustacea Polypodiaceae Photo: CC BY, 呂一起(Lyu yi-chi)Lecanopteris deparioides Lecanopteris deparioides Polypodiaceae Photo: CC BY, desertnaturalistLecanopteris linguiformis Lecanopteris linguiformis Polypodiaceae Photo: CC BY, Cheng-Wei CHEN Lecanopteris lomarioides Polypodiaceae Lecanopteris mirabilis Lecanopteris mirabilis Polypodiaceae Photo: CC BY-SA, Steven WallingLecanopteris pumila Lecanopteris pumila Polypodiaceae Photo: CC BY, Brodie Cass TalbottLecanopteris pustulata Lecanopteris pustulata Polypodiaceae Photo: CC BY, Jenny SaitoLecanopteris scandens Lecanopteris scandens Polypodiaceae Photo: CC BY-SA, J BrewLecanopteris sinuosa Lecanopteris sinuosa Polypodiaceae Photo: CC BY, 謝麗霦

Names & registers

Also known as Onychium carnosum; Pleopeltis carnosa; Polypodium carnosum; Polypodium lecanopteris; Polypodium patelliferum. (GBIF Backbone)

GBIFPOWOIPNIWFOWikidataWikipediaiNaturalist

The record

Family
Polypodiaceae
Described by
(Reinw.) Blume
Native to
Sulawesi
Wild records
6 in range · 2 open

Every figure here is derived from public data by a stated rule and names its source; nothing about this species is written for its page by a person or by AI, apart from the marked, credited quotations. How →

Where this page came from built 2026-10-22
GBIF species record gbif.species answeredasked 2026-10-22
GBIF synonyms gbif.synonyms answeredasked 2026-10-22
GBIF common names gbif.vernacular answeredasked 2026-10-22names fetched 2026-10-22
WCVP native range wcvp.distribution answeredas of 2026-06-04
GBIF occurrence records gbif.occurrences answeredas of 2026-10-21GBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.hbdw64, of 2026-10-21
Habitat climate climate answeredasked 2026-10-22
Daily extremes (NASA POWER) climate.extremes answeredasked 2026-10-22NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell 1.50_125.000, lapse-corrected +749 m at 6.5 °C/km
Wikidata wikidata answeredasked 2026-10-22IPNI and POWO linked by Kew's number for Lecanopteris carnosa (Reinw.) Blume (the item's: IPNI 17273540-1, POWO 17131860-1)
Wikipedia wikipedia answeredasked 2026-10-22
iNaturalist photographs, wild inat.photos.wild answeredasked 2026-10-22from iNaturalist's open data of 2026-09-27: research-grade observations with an open-licence photograph, the 24 whose photographs iNaturalist received last (the open data holds no votes); filled 2026-10-22
iNaturalist photographs, cultivated inat.photos.cultivated not asked
GBIF media gbif.media answeredasked 2026-10-22none of the photographs on this page is credited to GBIF: those shown are other sources', and GBIF's were the same photographs or were set aside by the photograph rules
Wikimedia Commons commons answeredasked 2026-10-22
OpenAlex papers openalex not askednot yet asked for this reference; a later fill takes the papers from OpenAlex's snapshot

Every source is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, refused, failed, not been asked, or answered twice where one answer is taken (“not taken: two items answered”), and, for a source asked when this page was built, when: the figures are as the source held them that day; a source read from a file (Kew's World Checklist, a GBIF download) says "as of" the file's day instead; a row carried from an earlier build of the page names that build instead. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 11 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.

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