Platycerium (Staghorn) Ferns As Epiphytes
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The Rediscovery Of Platycerium Fern Andinum , Continued
By Lee Moore , The Adventurer
This Newly Carved Road That Went Across The Andes Mountains , Of Peru To The Prehistoric Amazon Rain Forest Jungle Was A Challenge And Will Be A Unforgettable Experience , For Me . Today The Same Trip Across This Road Would Only Take About A Day And A Half , But At That Time It Took Us Over Two And A Half Weeks To Cross This Road To The Amazon Jungle . We Did Take A Little Time To Set Up Camp To Rest , We Also Did A Little Foraging For Food And Supplies From The Local Indians . Today , There Are Towns And 3 Star Hotels Located Along This Road . At times During This Adventure , Of Crossing This Newly Carved Road We Had To Wait 3 To 4 Days For The Soft Muddy Amazon Rain Forest Jungle Roads To Dry Enough And Harden In Order To Lift The Old Volkswagen Van Back Onto The Road And Between The Deep Tandem Tire Tracks That Had Been Carved , Within The Soft Mud , By The Tires Of The Preceding Trucks . It Was On This Type Of A Occasion That I Rediscovered Prehistoric Platycerium (Staghorn) Fern Andinum .
One Day , After A Heavy Rain , We Were Waiting For The Newly Carved Road To Become Accessible Again And Noticed A Brand New Logging Road That Had Been Cut Into The Amazon Rain Forest . This Road Appeared To Be Relatively Accessible And Seemed To Be A Good Diversion , From The Road We Were Already On , We Also Knew , At That Time , That The Road We Were Presently On May Not Be Cleared For Several Days . So , We Decided To Explore This Road Carved Into The Amazon All The While Bypassing The Large Vehicles Hauling Logs . Our Deception Of Appearances Was Soon Realized When We Found Ourselves Bogged Down To The Frame , Of The Old Volkswagen Van , In The Deep Mud Holes Made By The Tractor Tires . Not To Worry , I Said , One Day In The Future Maybe One Of The Tractors Will Come Along And Pull Us Out , Of This Mess . Fortunately , For Us , There Happened To Be Passing By A Group Of Migrating Cashibo Indians That Had Been Employed , By The Mahogany Logging Company . After A Hour Of Pushing And Pulling We Were Able To Get The Old Volkswagen Van Out , Of Its Precarious Predicament .
Lying Exhausted And Flat On My Back Along Side The Muddy Tractor Tire Tracks I Looked Up Into The Trees And There It Was , The Prehistoric Platycerium (Staghorn) Fern Andinum . I Had To Convince One Of The Cashibo Indians , With A Few Pesos , To Climb The Tree And Cut The Plant Down , With His Machete . It Was A Monstrous Plant And The Plant Was Circling The Entire Tree , With About (45) Mature Shield Fronds . The Platycerium Fern Species Came Down , From The Tree , With A Great Whomp And Along With The Plant Came Its Compliments Of Ants, Scorpions And One Small Boa Constrictor .
The First Image That Was Taken Of A Living Prehistoric Platycerium (Staghorn) Fern Andinum , With Lee Moore And The Cashibo Indians , That Helped Me Get The Platycerium Fern Species , In 1962 , Was Taken By Jeff Powell A Companion And Friend Who Is Now A Babist Minister , In Japan .
When I Announced The Discovery Of The First Living Species Of Prehistoric Platycerium Fern Andinum And Offered Them To The World Collectors I Received Letters Back From The Old Icons , Of The Industry , Accusing Me Of Deception And Stating That They Were Tired Of Being Deceived By Counterfeit Offers , Of Platycerium Fern Andinum . So , For A Very Long Time I Refused To Sell The Platycerium Andinum To Them . At That Time , I Knew That I Had Really Found The Platycerium Species And Had Something They Had Been Wanting For A Very Long Time , But They Were Unable To Receive A Species From Me . This Game Gave Me Great Pleasure In Being Able To Send To Them Fertile Fronds That Had Fresh Spore Patches Upon Them For Their Identification , But Even Still I Would Not Sell To Them Until I Received Letters Of Apology , From Them , For My Accused Fraud . I Kept Them Drooling After They Finally Realized That I Had Really Found What They Had Been Looking For , For So Long , And I Continued To Keep Them Drooling . Just A Little Bit Of Satisfaction , For Being Ridiculed . I Was Not Even Looking For The Platycerium Fern Andinum , But I Did Find The Platycerium Fern Species And That Is What Counts .
Since That (First Rediscovery) , In 1962 , Of Prehistoric Platycerium Fern Andinum , I Have Found The Species In Great Quantities , Within The Area Of Tarapoto , Peru Where Spruce Had Originally Reported His First Discovery , Of The Plant .
Platycerium Fern Andinum Is A Very Warm Growing Platycerium And Can Be Found Growing At Altitudes Of About 300 Meters , 984 Feet , In The Foothills Along The Eastern Slopes Of The Andes Mountains , Of Peru , Within The Amazon Rain Forest Jungle . Platycerium Fern Andinum Is One Of The Most Beautiful Of All Staghorn Ferns , Where The Fertile Fronds Can Be Found Hanging Downward 2 Meters , 6 1/2 Feet Or More And The Upper Portion Of The Shield Fronds As Tall As 0.61 Meters , 2 Feet , Or More . This Species Is One Of The Hardiest Of All Platycerium Ferns That Exist . In Florida , We Have Observed Platycerium Adinum , With Visible Frost On The Shield And Fertile Fronds , With No Apparent Damage Resulting To Them .
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