Will Wild Fern Hurt a Staghorn?

Life Above the Floor

• While staghorn ferns are perennial even in the wild they do not compete with most wild ferns. Staghorn ferns are epiphytic, meaning they grow on trunks of trees or where branches meet rather than in the soil like most fern species. They are not parasitic, however. Staghorn ferns do not send roots into the tree. Instead the thick, overlapping fronds hold the staghorn to the tree and nutrients come from leaves that fall and are caught where the staghorn fern is living. The leaves decompose and form a nutrient rich compost for the staghorn.

Surface Dwellers

• Most wild ferns prefer the shade and rich, moist soil of the forest floor. Because they have shallow root systems they can grow well in areas with little soil, such as between rocks. In a forest environment wild ferns grow below the tree-dwelling staghorns, meaning the two do not interact or compete for resources. Since their growing needs are so different they do not harm each other.

Sharing the Trees

• Staghorn ferns are not the only ferns to make their homes on live trees. Rabbit’s foot fern (Polypodium aureum) and bird’s nest fern (Asplenium nidus), both of which are hardy in USDA growing zones 9 to 11, are also epiphytic. The small spaces available in the forks of branches keeps these ferns from growing too closely together, however. Even if they grow near each other they rarely compete for resources and do not harm one another. Just be sure your staghorn has filtered sunlight.

Caught on the Wind

• Like all ferns, epiphytic ferns propagate by spores, rather than seed. Spores are blown by the wind and can end up growing long distances from the parent fern. Even if a spore lands on the same branch as a staghorn it is not likely to grow close enough to damage it. The decomposing leaves the staghorn feeds on are surrounded by its roots. A wild epiphytic fern spore would have to land directly into this pocket of nutrients to grow, which is not likely. Even if a spore did land in this fertile pocket and germinate, the seedling would have to compete with the mature staghorn fern. The adult staghorn would crowd out the seedling long before it could establish itself.