September 1, 2021 • 8 mins
Ferns are not only some of the oldest plants on the planet, but they’re also some of the most interesting. The Staghorn Fern, named after its antler-like leaves, is no exception. In our final bonus episode of the summer, discover how it grows and works in colonies and its favorite kind of food.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Okay there. I'm Mungish particular, co host of Part Time Genius,
(00:08):
one of the founders of Mental Flaws, and this is
Humans Growing Stuff, a collaboration from my Heart Radio and
your friends at Miracle Grow. Our goal is to make
this the most human show about plants that you'll ever
listen to, and along the way, we'll share inspiring stories,
tips and tricks to nurture your plant addiction, and just
enough science to make you sound like an expert. Now
(00:31):
we are on summer break right now, but because Molly
and I cannot stop talking about plants, we are bringing
you some mini episodes to brighten up your feed and
grow your plant curiosity. Throughout the summer, we'll be dropping
incredible stories from growers, advice from experts, and we'll have
some fun conversations around fascinating plant facts. For this bonus episode,
(00:52):
we are sharing our favorite facts about incredibly community minded
stag horn ferns. So I just want to begin by
letting you know that I am not into taxidermy, but
I do love fake taxidermy. I find paper mache rainbow
(01:16):
zebra heads extremely charming. For a while, I was obsessed
with Dr Seuss fake taxidermy where he sculpted then mounted
on these wooden boards, all these imaginary animals, like the
delightful sea going dilemma fish or the google eyed Tasmanian
wall gast. You should look them up because they are
super delightful. I even had a short lived soft spot
(01:37):
for the Billy bass singing fish, and it turns out
I'm not the only one. Apparently, Queen Elizabeth was so
tickled by this novelty singing fish that she bought six
of them and mounted one above her grand piano. That
is true. But the reason I'm telling you all of
this is because when I learned about the stag horn fern,
I took an immediate liking to it. It is a
(02:00):
plant with big, antler like fronds, and that makes it
look great mounted on your wall like a trophy. In fact,
it's become a pretty popular house plant recently. And just
like the resurrection fern, the stag horn is an epiphyte,
so it grows on trees, but it's not a parasite. Instead,
it absorbs any water that drops off of the tree,
(02:21):
while its roots secured on the branches as it climbs. Now,
our friend Michael Perry, a k mr Plant geek, calls
the stag horn fern one of the funkiest of the ferns,
and scientists are still learning a ton about them. But
here's some of my favorite facts about this regal and
also very social stag horn fern. One, it has some
(02:50):
pretty glorious fronds. Now, ferns have some of the best
names in the business, partially because they look like what
they're named after. Their Bird's Nest fern looks like a
bird's nest, the ostrich fern fans out like ostrich feathers.
The interrupting fern has missing sections and some of its fronds.
The kangaroo paw fern has you guessed it leaves that
(03:10):
look like kangaroo pause. And the stag horn fern gets
its name from its long, glorious, antler like fronds. And
The Sydney Morning Herald has called these ornamental fronts the
drop earrings and handlebar mustache of the plant world, meaning
they definitely draw attention. And even back in the nine seventies,
The New York Times was raving about the plant in
(03:32):
a column from F. Gordon Foster, author of the popular
Ferns to Know and Grow Foster praised the unusually beautiful
fern for its moose like antlers, and he advocated mounting
one on a plaque and hanging it high in your
bathroom where it could absorb moisture too. Do not remove
(03:54):
the brown part. In addition to those antler like fronds,
the fern also has shorter eyed, flat leaves near the
base of the plant, and these are known as shield fronds.
These are super important because they absorbed the nutrients and
water for the plant. And while these shield fronds start
out all green and healthy looking, they eventually turned brown
and dry out. But do not be fooled. While the
(04:17):
shield fronds might look unnecessary, they're still alive and working hard.
They're important for anchoring the plant in place and for
protecting that root ball a k a. The nutrient center
of your plant. Three They've been around since the dinosaurs.
According to the San Diego Zoo, part of the reason
(04:37):
that stag horns look so different from other ferns with
bigger boulder fronds that are less lacy is that they
have a lineage dating back to the days of the dinosaurs.
While the plants are native to tropical regions of Africa,
southeast Asia and Australia. Many botanists believe that the stag
horns are actually the missing link between ancient and modern ferns.
(05:00):
Four spores, not seeds. Unlike other plants, stag horn ferns
don't reproduce via flowers of seeds. They have these teeny
tiny spores that grow on the underside of those beautiful
antler like fronds. To grow more stag horns, look for
the green bumps hidden on the underside of those antler
(05:21):
like fronds. When they turn brown, you can scrape them
off with a knife and harvest them. Another trick for
collecting the spores is to cut off a frond and
place it in a paper bag and wait for the
spores to dry out and fall off the fronds. Then
you can use those to grow baby ferns, or as
they're actually called by botanists, pops. Five stag horns love community. Now.
(05:48):
One of the most incredible things about stag horns is
that researchers have discovered that the plants take on distinct
rolls to help each other out, and this usually happens
when they're growing in clusters and nature so sently, The
New York Times published an article sharing how ferns near
the top of the trees have grown these longer, waxier,
antler fronds, and those near the bottom take on a
(06:09):
sponge eer quality with more prominent shield fronds, and the
plants leaves at the top make it easier to direct
water to the other plants below them, and those near
the bottom have adapted to absorb more water, so they're
all coordinating, and researchers determined it was as if the
ferns operate like bees in a hive, giving different roles
to each other to best serve the larger community of
(06:32):
plants so that they can grow and thrive together. I
love that. And finally, six, they eat bananas. According to
the Sydney Morning Herald, one well known secret in the
world of growing prize stag horns is to feed your
fern bananas. As one cultivator told the paper, he used
(06:53):
to watch his grandmother peeled the fruit like she was
feeding her pet chimpanzee. Now in the wild, staghorn fern
trapped falling vegetal and plant matter in their nest like fraunds,
and it decomposes and acts like a fertilizer there. But
according to the article. The preferred method of most growers
is to shed the fruit and just tuck a banana
skin into the basil frounds, where you can fertilize the plant.
(07:17):
Either way, the idea of a plant feasting on another
plant skives some people out. As one subject told the
Morning Herald reporter, even as a child, I wondered about
the moral implications of a plant eating another plant, As
he elaborated, can plants be cannibals? I mean to me,
that only makes me love the staghorn fernt even more.
(07:42):
That's it for today's bonus episode, and don't forget, no
matter what season it is or where you're at in
your gardening journey, there's some incredible resources waiting for you
on the Miracle Grow website. Humans Growing Stuff is a
collaboration from I Heart Radio and your friends at Miracle Grow.
I do hope you've loved these bonus episodes. Are show
was written and produced by Molly Sosha and me Mongay. Particular,
(08:04):
the episode was edited and engineered by our pal Matt Stillo,
who saved us a ton this summer. Thank you all
so much for listening.
Okay there. I'm Mungish particular, co host of Part Time Genius,
(00:08):
one of the founders of Mental Flaws, and this is
Humans Growing Stuff, a collaboration from my Heart Radio and
your friends at Miracle Grow. Our goal is to make
this the most human show about plants that you'll ever
listen to, and along the way, we'll share inspiring stories,
tips and tricks to nurture your plant addiction, and just
enough science to make you sound like an expert. Now
(00:31):
we are on summer break right now, but because Molly
and I cannot stop talking about plants, we are bringing
you some mini episodes to brighten up your feed and
grow your plant curiosity. Throughout the summer, we'll be dropping
incredible stories from growers, advice from experts, and we'll have
some fun conversations around fascinating plant facts. For this bonus episode,
(00:52):
we are sharing our favorite facts about incredibly community minded
stag horn ferns. So I just want to begin by
letting you know that I am not into taxidermy, but
I do love fake taxidermy. I find paper mache rainbow
(01:16):
zebra heads extremely charming. For a while, I was obsessed
with Dr Seuss fake taxidermy where he sculpted then mounted
on these wooden boards, all these imaginary animals, like the
delightful sea going dilemma fish or the google eyed Tasmanian
wall gast. You should look them up because they are
super delightful. I even had a short lived soft spot
(01:37):
for the Billy bass singing fish, and it turns out
I'm not the only one. Apparently, Queen Elizabeth was so
tickled by this novelty singing fish that she bought six
of them and mounted one above her grand piano. That
is true. But the reason I'm telling you all of
this is because when I learned about the stag horn fern,
I took an immediate liking to it. It is a
(02:00):
plant with big, antler like fronds, and that makes it
look great mounted on your wall like a trophy. In fact,
it's become a pretty popular house plant recently. And just
like the resurrection fern, the stag horn is an epiphyte,
so it grows on trees, but it's not a parasite. Instead,
it absorbs any water that drops off of the tree,
(02:21):
while its roots secured on the branches as it climbs. Now,
our friend Michael Perry, a k mr Plant geek, calls
the stag horn fern one of the funkiest of the ferns,
and scientists are still learning a ton about them. But
here's some of my favorite facts about this regal and
also very social stag horn fern. One, it has some
(02:50):
pretty glorious fronds. Now, ferns have some of the best
names in the business, partially because they look like what
they're named after. Their Bird's Nest fern looks like a
bird's nest, the ostrich fern fans out like ostrich feathers.
The interrupting fern has missing sections and some of its fronds.
The kangaroo paw fern has you guessed it leaves that
(03:10):
look like kangaroo pause. And the stag horn fern gets
its name from its long, glorious, antler like fronds. And
The Sydney Morning Herald has called these ornamental fronts the
drop earrings and handlebar mustache of the plant world, meaning
they definitely draw attention. And even back in the nine seventies,
The New York Times was raving about the plant in
(03:32):
a column from F. Gordon Foster, author of the popular
Ferns to Know and Grow Foster praised the unusually beautiful
fern for its moose like antlers, and he advocated mounting
one on a plaque and hanging it high in your
bathroom where it could absorb moisture too. Do not remove
(03:54):
the brown part. In addition to those antler like fronds,
the fern also has shorter eyed, flat leaves near the
base of the plant, and these are known as shield fronds.
These are super important because they absorbed the nutrients and
water for the plant. And while these shield fronds start
out all green and healthy looking, they eventually turned brown
and dry out. But do not be fooled. While the
(04:17):
shield fronds might look unnecessary, they're still alive and working hard.
They're important for anchoring the plant in place and for
protecting that root ball a k a. The nutrient center
of your plant. Three They've been around since the dinosaurs.
According to the San Diego Zoo, part of the reason
(04:37):
that stag horns look so different from other ferns with
bigger boulder fronds that are less lacy is that they
have a lineage dating back to the days of the dinosaurs.
While the plants are native to tropical regions of Africa,
southeast Asia and Australia. Many botanists believe that the stag
horns are actually the missing link between ancient and modern ferns.
(05:00):
Four spores, not seeds. Unlike other plants, stag horn ferns
don't reproduce via flowers of seeds. They have these teeny
tiny spores that grow on the underside of those beautiful
antler like fronds. To grow more stag horns, look for
the green bumps hidden on the underside of those antler
(05:21):
like fronds. When they turn brown, you can scrape them
off with a knife and harvest them. Another trick for
collecting the spores is to cut off a frond and
place it in a paper bag and wait for the
spores to dry out and fall off the fronds. Then
you can use those to grow baby ferns, or as
they're actually called by botanists, pops. Five stag horns love community. Now.
(05:48):
One of the most incredible things about stag horns is
that researchers have discovered that the plants take on distinct
rolls to help each other out, and this usually happens
when they're growing in clusters and nature so sently, The
New York Times published an article sharing how ferns near
the top of the trees have grown these longer, waxier,
antler fronds, and those near the bottom take on a
(06:09):
sponge eer quality with more prominent shield fronds, and the
plants leaves at the top make it easier to direct
water to the other plants below them, and those near
the bottom have adapted to absorb more water, so they're
all coordinating, and researchers determined it was as if the
ferns operate like bees in a hive, giving different roles
to each other to best serve the larger community of
(06:32):
plants so that they can grow and thrive together. I
love that. And finally, six, they eat bananas. According to
the Sydney Morning Herald, one well known secret in the
world of growing prize stag horns is to feed your
fern bananas. As one cultivator told the paper, he used
(06:53):
to watch his grandmother peeled the fruit like she was
feeding her pet chimpanzee. Now in the wild, staghorn fern
trapped falling vegetal and plant matter in their nest like fraunds,
and it decomposes and acts like a fertilizer there. But
according to the article. The preferred method of most growers
is to shed the fruit and just tuck a banana
skin into the basil frounds, where you can fertilize the plant.
(07:17):
Either way, the idea of a plant feasting on another
plant skives some people out. As one subject told the
Morning Herald reporter, even as a child, I wondered about
the moral implications of a plant eating another plant, As
he elaborated, can plants be cannibals? I mean to me,
that only makes me love the staghorn fernt even more.
(07:42):
That's it for today's bonus episode, and don't forget, no
matter what season it is or where you're at in
your gardening journey, there's some incredible resources waiting for you
on the Miracle Grow website. Humans Growing Stuff is a
collaboration from I Heart Radio and your friends at Miracle Grow.
I do hope you've loved these bonus episodes. Are show
was written and produced by Molly Sosha and me Mongay. Particular,
(08:04):
the episode was edited and engineered by our pal Matt Stillo,
who saved us a ton this summer. Thank you all
so much for listening.
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