Family heirloom

This Elk Horn Fern (Platycerium bifurcatum) has been in the family for at least 50 years. It originally belonged to my father-in-law in Sydney. After he died 40 years ago, we moved it to our house in Canberra. At some point we split it into 2 separate clumps, then brought them to the Northern Rivers 4 years ago. They seem quite happy here.

Elk Horns have 2 types of leaves - flat and dangly - shown top and bottom in the collage.The flat leaves hold on to whatever the fern is attaching itself to, usually the trunk of a tree, deep in rainforest. The dangly leaves contain the reproductive bits - in the lower photo the pale orangey-brown stuff is reproductive spores.