Cultivar
Platycerium bifurcatum 'Mt. Lewis'
Mt. Lewis
- Latin
- Platycerium bifurcatum 'Mt. Lewis'
- Chinese
- 貓路易士
- Japanese
- マウントルイス
- English
- Mt. Lewis
Parent species
Platycerium bifurcatumcommon staghorn fern
Mt. Lewis takes its name from the Mount Lewis area of Queensland, Australia, and is one of the few trade names a journal paper has examined: a 2021 study treats it as a variant within the Platycerium bifurcatum complex, and the same plant has carried at least three names. The easiest thing to recognise is its raised main veins.
Care notes
What the name refers to
Mount Lewis is an upland area inside the Wet Tropics World Heritage rainforest of Queensland, Australia, so like Auburn River this name points to a place, not to an individual somebody picked out.
It is still a trade name, not a registered cultivar.
One of the few trade names with a paper behind it
Most cultivar names exist only in the trade; Mt. Lewis is the exception. In 2021 Hoshizaki and Yansura published a study in the American Fern Journal (vol. 111, no. 1) comparing its morphology and molecular data, and concluded that it is an undescribed variant within the Platycerium bifurcatum complex, with similarities to var. lanciferum, described in 1915.
The paper also traces the plant's name history: it was once sold as 'Venose Frond' and later treated as P. willinckii var. venosum. That is why you will still see it listed as willinckii 'Mt Lewis' — growers do not agree on which species to file it under. We follow the paper and place it under bifurcatum.
The online claim that Mt. Lewis is "the 19th species" has no scientific source and reads as marketing, so we do not repeat it.
How to recognise it: raised main veins
The old name, Venose Frond, simply means a frond with prominent veins. The trait the paper picks out is raised main veins: on the shield fronds you can see the lines radiating outward clearly. On a mature plant the fertile fronds are long, hang in sheaves and fork repeatedly at the tips.
How it differs from 'Netherlands' and ordinary bifurcatum
The commonest bifurcatum form, 'Netherlands', has short, broad, densely forked fronds and a compact habit; Mt. Lewis has long, pendent fertile fronds and raised veins. Be aware that 'Mt. Lewis × bifurcatum' sporelings are already circulating among growers, and they look somewhere in between.
Care
Grow it as you would bifurcatum: it is adaptable and likes bright light. Because the fertile fronds are long and pendent, hang it higher and leave room below so the tips do not drag on a wall or the floor.
Three questions before you buy
- How was it propagated? A pup is the same individual as its mother; a sporeling segregates and may be a cross with ordinary bifurcatum.
- Look at the veins in the mother-plant photo. Seedlings show little; the raised veins appear as the fronds grow.
- Is it labelled willinckii or bifurcatum? Either may mean the same line. Ask where it came from rather than trusting the Latin name alone.
FAQ
Is Mt. Lewis a bifurcatum or a willinckii?
Growers write it both ways. A 2021 study in the American Fern Journal compared its morphology and molecular data and placed it in the Platycerium bifurcatum complex as an undescribed variant; earlier it had been treated as willinckii var. venosum. We follow the paper and list it under bifurcatum.
Is Mt. Lewis the 19th Platycerium species?
No. That claim has no scientific source and reads as marketing. The only dedicated study treats it as a variant within the bifurcatum complex, not as a separate species.
Is Mt. Lewis easy to grow?
As easy as bifurcatum: adaptable and fond of bright light. The main thing is that its fertile fronds are long and pendent, so hang it higher and leave room for the tips not to drag on a wall or the floor.