Birds nest ferns

[Gbarce]

the regular kind

[Gbarce]

wavy leaf form

[Gbarce]

Finely branched form

[Gbarce]

close up of those leaves

[Gbarce]

more branched forms

[Gbarce]

leaf tips forking several times

[Gbarce]

"Pompom"

[Gbarce]

branched form from indonesia

[Kris]

Dear Gene  

Lovely stills of a beautiful birds nest plant and i love it.

thanks & Love,

Kris  

[metalfan]

Those branching ones are way cool! I have never seen them before. Those go on my want lists!

[palmmermaid]

Mine, too!  I didn't know such a form existed.  Are they a species or just a variation?

[alan.oz]

The finely branched plant is not a birdsnest (Asplenium), looks like one of the Microsorum cultivars probably "Monstrifera".

[bgl]

My knowledge about bird's nest ferns is extremely limited, but we do have quite a few of them in our native Ohi'a (Metrosideros polymorpha) trees. When we have visitors I almost always get questions about them, and most of those questions I'm unable to answer. It seems like we have a few experts here on the Forum, so maybe I can find out what genus/species these are. Incidentally, the only question I can answer with authority is this one (and believe it or not, that's the most frequently asked question): "did you plant those bird's nest ferns yourself?"

Here's a close-up of the largest one

[bgl]

And just to give you an idea how high up this plant is, here's a full view of the tree. The fern must be close to 30 ft above ground. (And, no, I didn't plant it!!).

BTW, sorry about the quality of this photo - remember we are currently right in the middle of Hurricane Flossie. I guess someone must have forgotten that hurricanes are supposed to have both wind and rain, but we'll probably get a little bit before the day is over (something is telling me I'm not supposed to make fun of hurricanes, but too late! )

[bgl]

Here's a trio of Ohi'a trees with three ferns, one on each trunk - the largest one on the left (highest up), with the smallest one on the tree to the right, and still fairly small (fairly low in the photo)

[bgl]

And, finally, this one which is deep in the shade under plenty of canopy (as opposed to the first one, which is completely exposed). Sorry about the little branch in front of the fern. There's a 20 ft deep ravine between me and the fern (and I already fell into it once!), so I wasn't going to attempt a removal of the branch...

[Kris]

Dear Bo Goran  

very beautiful fern and for a moment i could not believe my own eyes..it's indeed big and should be called gigenta ?  

And thanks for those lovely stills.

love,

Kris  

[aussiearoids]

(Gbarce @ Aug. 14 2007,11:59)

QUOTE

close up of those leaves

Gene , some fantastic variations in those Aspleniums , but I agree with Alan , that this one is a different species .. Microsorium monstrosum .. I could be wrong .

[metalfan]

I have a few huge Aspleniums planted in the yard, but I have to protect the largest ones in winter. A few smaller ones under the canopy of some hedges and the breezeway sail by unscathed, but I wish I could put some in the trees! That's so cool.

I am going to be on the lookout for those Microsoriums, for certain!!!!! They have big "WOW" appeal.

[Gbarce]

Nope I am sure that the really "frilly" one is an asplenium nidus too.  Though its hard to see in teh picture It has a "head" at the very center of all those frills and the different leaves with all of their crazy forking branch out from that head at the very center.

I was hovering around that plant for about half an hour just soaking it all in and I guarantee its a birds nest fern.

Though it might not be correct to call it an asplenium nidus because these guys are so far off from the original form that they should probably be classified as a seperate species altogether.

To set the recod straight to the local collectors here they just term them as "mutations" of  the Asplenium nidus but no one has really made a scientific / DNA analysis  to confirm it.

Most of these are really one-offs.  No two are exactly alike so you just try to get the most extreme ones you can find.  The only way to get a truly identical plant is to cut the head of the fern at the center (heartache) and wait for it to grow into a full cirlce again.  

The fern in contention actually won "Best in show for that year".  I have a similar on ein my collection but it is still small and my great dane tipped it over and slept on it.  It survives though.  I will take a shot of it this weekend end post it too.  I hope the leaf frills are forming again and you will be able to see the head very clearly coz there are hardly any leaves now.

The ones in the pictures here are the really extreme forms but there are a lot that are much closer to the original form with a lot less frilling or branching. But if you look at the basic structure of these ferns they are bery very similar- color and substance of the leaves, growth requirements etc...

In evolution there are sometimes "explosions" of new forms stemming from one form of of an organism.  Normally if the mutation is not advantageous for survival the plants with those traits die off-- in this case MAN/Plant enthusiasts are stepping in.

Here is another set of "Mutant" ferns --corrugated leaves!!!

[Gbarce]

Same plant another angle.  Not mine though.

Mine are still small.

[Gbarce]

Another variant but notice that the leaf type of this one is very different- lighter in color and the leaves are much firmer.  this one is mine.  its grown since then.  this was about 2 years ago.  slower growing

[Gbarce]

As for Microsoriums or polypodiums take a look at these babies!!!!

[Gbarce]

Its like there is a whole head of lettuce at the end of each leaf.

Sadly its hard to maintain the "mutant leaf ends". they are usually really awesome from new cuttings but as the plant produces more leaves they lessen.  Culturing these are definitely tricky.

[Gbarce]

close up of the leaf end.

[Gbarce]

THis one is called "buntot ng serena" or "Tail of the Mermaid"

[Gbarce]

another variety

[Gbarce]

THis one is from a show.  I bought a cutting of this but if the conditions are not right the frills disappear eventually.  I tied mine to a tree and now there are only minimal frills.

[SubTropicRay]

An interesting group of plants to say the least.

[Jeff Searle]

Gene,

    Love your pictures. Thanks,

Jeff

[palmmermaid]

Wonderful pictures!  I love the variety and the frilly leaves.  One of them looks like a staghorn.

[Gbarce]

this one is also interesting.  the leaves are very firm

[Gbarce]

i think this one is some type of polypodium

[Gbarce]

THis is my asplenim that is similar to the "superfrilled" cultivar  in my earlier post.

Pathetic 'no. The bitch had a good nap on this plant.  Its a good thing it survived

[Gbarce]

close up of the head

[Gbarce]

close up of the leaf. eventually all these extensions become the frills.  they just keep on dividing and dividing getting finer and finer

[Gbarce]

Closeup of a new leaf

[Gbarce]

close up of leaf tip

[Gbarce]

another leaf tip

Will probably take a couple of year before it gets all round and  presentable again.

If my dog doesn't sleep on it again

[FRITO]

very nice photos. my mother has one at her place here in town.  it has survived a few years under her canopy micro climate. never had damage into the low 20's

but her micro climate under large oaks play into micro climate.

I definently like these though.