Cultivar
Platycerium 'Griffin'
Griffin
- Latin
- Platycerium 'Griffin'
- Chinese
- 獅鷲
- Japanese
- グリフィン
- English
- Griffin
Griffin is a trade name for a hybrid selection, not a registered cultivar. Japanese listings most often give it as P. veitchii × the trade hybrid Diversifolium, while another seller gives willinckii × Diversifolium; the parentage does not agree, and the breeder, year and country are untraced. The only feature sources agree on is a silvery-white look. Both pups of the original selection and sporelings are sold; sporelings segregate, so traits like golden edges, thick fronds or small size in a listing belong to that seedling, not to the name.
Care notes
What this name refers to
Griffin is a trade name, not a registered cultivar, and its history is unverified. It is a selection from a hybrid cross, and sellers in Japan and Taiwan use the same name for pups of the original selection and for its sporelings, so it is not a loose label applied to unrelated plants.
Three accounts of the parentage exist: two conflict, and the third gives only half.
- The most common is P. veitchii × Diversifolium. Diversifolium is a trade hybrid usually given as P. bifurcatum × P. hillii. This version comes mainly from one Japanese nursery that introduced it early; other Japanese blogs mostly bought from that nursery, so they are not independent sources.
- A 2022 Japanese listing describes it as a selection from willinckii × Diversifolium and relays the breeder's account: selected and named from spores sown around 2011 to 2013, and sold to only three people before then. The breeder is not named.
- One private seller says only that it derives from Diversifolium, without naming the other parent.
The breeder, year and country are untraced. The Taiwanese listings we saw do not give parentage.
How to recognise it
- A silvery, bluish-white matte look: three sources agree, the only fairly consistent feature so far; one seller expects it to get whiter in direct sun.
- Thick fronds, broad fertile fronds, visible veins, and vigour: each mentioned by only one or two sellers; treat them as hints.
A Taiwanese "sporeling select" listing mentions golden edges, thick stiff fronds, small size and rhizome pups. No other source online treats these as Griffin traits. Sporelings segregate, so these describe individual seedlings picked from one batch and cannot be used to identify the name.
What it gets confused with
- A number of hybrids are said to use Griffin as a parent and carry their own names. Check whether the tag means Griffin itself or one of its offspring.
- White Hawk is recorded in Japan as willinckii × Diversifolium, the same as Griffin's second parentage; how the two relate is unclear.
Care
Grow it like other hybrid staghorns: bright diffused light, an open medium, good airflow, and water when the medium feels dry. The silvery look needs light and fades to green in long-term low light. Leave rhizome pups on sporelings attached until each has a full shield and its own roots; see dividing pups.
Three questions before you buy
- Is it a pup or a sporeling? A pup is the same individual as the original selection; sporelings are offspring and segregate.
- Can you see the mother plant? Ask the seller where the mother plant came from and for a photo of a mature plant.
- Is the tag Griffin itself? Offspring hybrids of Griffin are also sold.
FAQ
A Griffin sporeling listing says golden edges, thick fronds and small size. Will it keep those as it grows?
Not necessarily. These describe individual seedlings the seller picked from one batch, and no other source online treats them as Griffin traits. Sporelings segregate, so watch whether the next few rounds of fronds keep them. If you want a plant like the original selection, a pup is the safer buy.
What are Griffin's parents?
Accounts differ. Japanese listings most often give P. veitchii × Diversifolium (a trade hybrid of bifurcatum × hillii), while another seller calls it a selection from willinckii × Diversifolium. Both come only from sellers and the breeder is not named, so we mark it as unverified.
Other cultivars of the same species
Names selected from the same wild species, usually compared side by side.