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Taiwan's International Platycerium Award and What It Says About the Island
Taiwan's International Platycerium Award debuted in February 2023 at Taipei Expo Park, with judges flown in from Thailand and Japan. It's one of the few concrete pieces of evidence for Taiwan's place in the Platycerium world.
What the first edition looked like
The first Taiwan International Platycerium Award ran from February 25 to 27, 2023, at Zhengyan Hall in Taipei Expo Park. The organizer, 艸植感, run by 方明軒, had run a smaller staghorn fern exhibition in Tainan the year before, then scaled it up into a formal international award the following year. Judging combined an expert panel and audience voting to choose an overall champion from among the entries.
The judges brought in
The first edition invited IloveFerns Nursery of Bangkok, Thailand (run by Wanna, specializing in exporting rare Platycerium) and Comolebi Plants of Japan to judge. Flying in growers from both countries to look at Taiwan's entries is itself a signal: the organizers wanted this event taken seriously by the Thai and Japanese collector scenes.
What came after, and what's missing
A second edition was confirmed for February 2024. A complete record of winners across all editions could not be found, and that gap is stated here rather than filled in with guesswork.
What this event says
That Taiwan is an important center for growing and moving Platycerium isn't the easiest thing to point to concrete evidence for — this event is one of the few places you can. Growers from Thailand and Japan sat on the judging panel. Jenny — one of the six dwarf cultivars, a trade name rather than an officially registered cultivar — a dwarf selection of Platycerium willinckii, sold for what was reported at the time as a record price at this first edition, covered by multiple news outlets — for why a plant can command that kind of long-term value, see the linked article.
This piece is a record of what happened at one event. We didn't organize it and didn't enter it, and nothing here is meant as promotion.
FAQ
Who organizes the Taiwan International Platycerium Award?
It's organized by 艸植感, run by Fang Ming-hsuan. The first edition took place in February 2023 at Zhengyan Hall in Taipei Expo Park, after a smaller staghorn fern exhibition in Tainan the year before.
Who judged the first edition?
IloveFerns Nursery of Bangkok (run by Wanna) and Comolebi Plants of Japan, both established names in the rare Platycerium trade.
Is there a full list of winners from past editions?
No complete list could be found. A second edition was confirmed for February 2024, but earlier or fuller winner records aren't publicly available — that gap is stated plainly rather than guessed at.
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