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Platycerium coronarium; photograph (c) Michael Berardozzi, some rights reserved (CC BY) CC BY(c) Michael Berardozzi, some rights reserved (CC BY) · observed growing wild · 2026-06-26

Platycerium coronarium (Konig) Desv.

Elkhorn fern

Polypodiaceae · Cambodia, Laos +7 · listed by its genus as an epiphyte

Cited as Kew's World Checklist cites it, Platycerium coronarium (Konig) Desv.: GBIF's backbone key for this page carries the name with another author, (D.Koenig ex O.F.Müll.) Desv.

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Platycerium coronarium, photograph (c) Michael Berardozzi, some rights reserved (CC BY)Platycerium coronarium, photograph (c) Brendan McIntyre, some rights reserved (CC BY)Platycerium coronarium, photograph (c) Brendan McIntyre, some rights reserved (CC BY)Platycerium coronarium, photograph (c) Brendan McIntyre, some rights reserved (CC BY)Platycerium coronarium, photograph author not stated, no rights reservedPlatycerium coronarium, photograph (c) Steven Bodzin, some rights reserved (CC BY) 50 photographs ›
Habitat figures
Cold floor (1 night in 100)
20.8°C
Record low 18.1 °C in 44 years, at a typical spot in the range NASA POWER
Warmest month, mean daily high
30°C
Mar, Apr and May at the habitat CHELSA
Rain a year (median across the range)
2,784mm
12 months of 25 mm or more in the median year CHELSA
Open-sky light
29–37DLI
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
Rain spread: 70% of the median year's rain takes 8 months, so no short rainy season. rain rule, CHELSA
Not shifted: the shift rule does not apply to this habitat. The chart is in the habitat's months.

Summary

Platycerium coronarium is an epiphytic species of staghorn fern in the genus Platycerium. It is found in maritime Southeast Asia and Indochina. and throughout the East Indies. It produces two kinds of leaves: Foliage leaves which are broad and upright in habit, and spore bearing leaves which are narrow, pendulous, dichotomously lobed and up to fifteen feet (4.6 meters) in length.

Quoted from Wikipedia, "Platycerium coronarium", CC BY-SA 4.0.

About the genus · Platycerium

Platycerium is a genus of about 18 fern species in the polypod family, Polypodiaceae. Ferns in this genus are widely known as staghorn or elkhorn ferns due to their uniquely shaped fronds. This genus is epiphytic and is native to tropical and temperate areas of South America, Africa, Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Guinea.

Quoted from Wikipedia, "Platycerium", CC BY-SA 4.0.

Cultivation

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

Seasons

The rain rule reads no short rainy season: 70% of the median year's rain (2,005 mm of 2,714 mm) takes 8 months, May to December. Mean temperature moves 1.5 °C between the warmest and coldest month. 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

2,714 mm in the median year at the habitat, 2,005 mm of it May to December. Wettest month October at 307 mm, driest month February at 134 mm. Across the grid cells of the range the year's total runs 2,191 mm to 4,243 mm, the 10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year. The median of the cells' own yearly totals, 2,784 mm, is the year's rain at the top of the page; the 2,714 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 37 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 26, the highest 90th-percentile month 40).

Warmth and air
Temperature

Coldest: the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at a typical spot in the range is 20.8 °C, the absolute minimum 18.1 °C, no frost in 44 years (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 32.6 °C. Monthly means: the coldest month's mean nightly low 22.1 °C in January (across the grid cells of the range 18.2 °C to 24.7 °C), the warmest month's mean daily high 29.9 °C in April (median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). Cold floor: 20.8 °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: 65 to 68% 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 -45 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 Platycerium 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

Habitat months, northern hemisphere

Habitat climate of Platycerium coronarium through the yearWarmest months March, April and May, mean daily high 30 °C; coldest month January, mean nightly low 22.1 °C; 2,714 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°35°32.6° 99th-percentile day, NASA POWER18.1° lowest night in 44 years, NASA POWER°C · day and nightcold quarter0100200300400500600mm rainDLI 29–37RH 65–68%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain medians and 10th–90th percentile across 172 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 °C28 / 26–3029 / 27–3130 / 28–3230 / 28–3230 / 28–3129 / 28–3129 / 28–3129 / 27–3129 / 27–3129 / 27–3028 / 27–3028 / 26–29
Night °C22 / 18–2522 / 19–2523 / 19–2624 / 20–2624 / 21–2624 / 20–2623 / 20–2623 / 20–2623 / 20–2523 / 20–2523 / 19–2522 / 18–25
Rain mm198 / 19–403134 / 27–295175 / 71–314202 / 118–342240 / 185–373207 / 144–407214 / 157–457223 / 164–534274 / 183–504307 / 198–398269 / 90–386271 / 18–457
DLI31 / 28–3535 / 32–3837 / 33–4037 / 32–3934 / 30–3632 / 29–3532 / 29–3533 / 28–3733 / 28–3631 / 27–3429 / 27–3229 / 26–32
RH %66 / 58–7165 / 59–7066 / 61–7067 / 63–7167 / 65–7167 / 64–7167 / 64–7267 / 63–7268 / 64–7268 / 65–7268 / 64–7268 / 59–72
How this section is made
Each figure is the median across the 172 grid cells holding the 262 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 1829:5811 (-1.475, 110.575). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum 18.1 °C, 1st-percentile night 20.8 °C, 99th-percentile day 32.6 °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 172 distinct grid cells holding 262 of the 262 in-range records; extremes and elevation at the typical cell 1829:5811 (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_110.625, lapse-corrected -45 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 77 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.
NativeCambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Borneo, Malaya, Philippines, Sumatera · 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 marker1.367, 103.8 · in the densest population, 99 records (29% 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 347 georeferenced records inside the native range; the climate across the range on the 262 of them placed to within 10 km; the map shows only the 94 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 3 km away. 30 records outside the WCVP native range not used. 85 in-range records are placed to worse than 10 km, or with no stated accuracy (admitted only as a person's observation to three decimals), and stay 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 347 in-range records; it decides nothing. Records outside the native range, living specimens and records marked introduced are not used; which records count.

Photographs

Platycerium coronarium, photograph 1did not loadPlatycerium coronarium, photograph 2did not loadPlatycerium coronarium, photograph 3did not loadPlatycerium coronarium, photograph 4did not loadPlatycerium coronarium, photograph 5did not loadPlatycerium coronarium, photograph 6did not load

Photographs: (c) Michael Berardozzi, some rights reserved (CC BY); (c) Brendan McIntyre, some rights reserved (CC BY) (3); author not stated, no rights reserved · CC0; (c) Steven Bodzin, some rights reserved (CC BY).

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

Alocasia longiloba Alocasia longiloba Araceae Photo: CC BY, pbsgParkia speciosa Parkia speciosa Stink bean Photo: CC BY, Steven BodzinGynura procumbens Gynura procumbens Longevity spinach Photo: CC BY, 鄭雪雲Amydrium medium Amydrium medium Araceae Photo: CC BY, Michael BerardozziNephelium lappaceum Nephelium lappaceum Rambutan Photo: CC0, author not statedEurycoma longifolia Eurycoma longifolia Simaroubaceae Photo: CC BY, Steven Bodzin

Other Platycerium 16 in the reference

Platycerium alcicorne Platycerium alcicorne Polypodiaceae Photo: CC BY, i_c_riddellPlatycerium andinum Platycerium andinum Polypodiaceae Photo: CC BY, Martin VallejosPlatycerium bifurcatum Platycerium bifurcatum Elkhorn fern Photo: CC0, author not statedPlatycerium elephantotis Platycerium elephantotis Angola staghorn fern Photo: CC BY-SA, alanbedfordshawPlatycerium ellisii Platycerium ellisii Polypodiaceae Photo: CC0, author not statedPlatycerium grande Platycerium grande Polypodiaceae Photo: CC BY, Annika LindqvistPlatycerium hillii Platycerium hillii Elkhorn fern Photo: CC BY, Brendan McIntyrePlatycerium holttumii Platycerium holttumii Polypodiaceae Photo: CC BY, chrisdtPlatycerium madagascariense Platycerium madagascariense Polypodiaceae Photo: CC BY, Louis AuregliaPlatycerium quadridichotomum Platycerium quadridichotomum Polypodiaceae Photo: CC BY, amantedarmaninPlatycerium ridleyi Platycerium ridleyi Ridley’s staghorn fern Photo: CC BY, Steven WhitebreadPlatycerium stemaria Platycerium stemaria Triangular staghorn fern Photo: CC BY, avocat all 17 ›

Names & registers

Also known as Acrostichum biforme; Acrostichum fuciforme; Alcicornium coronarium; Neuroplatyceros biformis; Osmunda coronaria and 2 more. (GBIF Backbone)

GBIFPOWOIPNIWFOWikidataWikipediaiNaturalist

The record

Family
Polypodiaceae
Described by
(Konig) Desv.
Native to
Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar +6
Wild records
347 in range · 94 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 2026-10-22GBIF's key 4024927 is Platycerium coronarium (D.Koenig ex O.F.Müll.) Desv.; the page links Kew's Platycerium coronarium (Konig) Desv., and the name is cited as Kew cites it
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; 40 records within 1 km of a botanic garden, herbarium or zoo left out (5 at a botanic garden or arboretum, 15 at a herbarium, 20 at a zoo; Wikidata's list)
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_110.625, lapse-corrected -45 m at 6.5 °C/km
Wikidata wikidata answeredasked 2026-10-22
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 2026-10-22
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 15 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.

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