Here in Hawaii it is called Moa and is native and therefore of historical importance to Hawaiian people. I have seen it growing primari...Read Morely on the bases of palm trees in semi shade which its epiphytic nature seems to favor. It also grows in tufts between rocks. As an ornamental plant it is mainly a curiosity ,I feel, although it could be incorporated into landscapes in the way I mentioned because of its cultural significance .
After about a decade after the original plant died...some stems of this fern have risen out of a pot of Sansevieria. I must have reused t...Read Morehe soil from the dead plant...and somehow those stems took a very long time to sprout.
Interesting oddity and I'm sure will be easier in the long run in a plastic pot with rich soils rather then mounting on a tree here in dry air California.
Jacksonville, FL (Zone 8b) | March 2008 | positive
In a sense, this may be the evolutionary grandmother of all vascular plants. With its primitive structure of being all stems, with no le...Read Moreaves nor roots, it may have been one of the first plants to make the move from ocean to land, but there are no fossil records that far back of the Psilotaceae.
I also had trouble growing this plant in my garden soil. I found it did much better after I had it established the Whisk Fern in my greenhouse in a plastic pot, then sunk the pot into the ground without transplanting the Whisk Fern directly into the soil. I have since found the plant around a Mexican Fan Palm in my garden, but it probably came in the pot with the palm at the time I bought the palm. It is often seen as a "weed" in greenhouses.
I purchased one from an online nursery in mid-December 2006. It was planted in a spot with good light and protection from the elements, b...Read Moreut just seemed to slowly dry out.
This plant is native to Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Venezuela, the Bahamas, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, the Leeward Islands, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, the Windward Islands, Gabon, Madagascar, Mauritius, Tanzania, Zambia, Vietnam, and New Caledonia.
Fort Lauderdale, FL (Zone 10b) | July 2005 | positive
I have had Whisk Fern, Psilotum nudum growing in the "boot jacks" of my Sable palm for several years now. The conditions in the bootjack...Read Mores are ideal for it's survival. Plenty of moisture, light and rich growing medium.
I have been able to remove pieces and grow them im my nursery area.
The plant is a Florida native.
this is an interesting plant that I found growing in one of my pots a few years ago. Its still going/growing in the pot (Don't know what...Read More happened to the plant that was originally in that pot). It's currently nestled in the plant bed under some ginger. get's a moderate amount of sun and frequent water since the ginger needs it. It's greener now with those conditions, was yellow/green before with more sun/less water. Didn't know what it was til I came across info on UH Botony site. Copied (some edits) info from their page below:
Psilophyta. The Psilotaceae are leafless and rootless terrestrial or epiphytic homosporous, protostelic vascular plants comprising 2 genera and less than ten species. The free-living sporophytic plant body is a dichotomously branching stem consisting of a subterranean mycorrhizal rhizome and a green, photosynthetic aerial portion that bears very small nonvascularized scale-like flaps of tissue called enations and 2- 3-lobed eusporangia or synangia on very short lateral branches. The independent gametophytes are bisexual, subterranean, lack chlorophyll, and depend on a symbiotic fungus for survival. Biflagellated sperm produced in an antheridium must travel through a film of water to reach the egg of an archegonium in order to initiate the zygote that may develop into a new sporophyte individual.
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Psilotum nudum, moa or whisk fern. This is one of two species of the genus that are native to the Hawaiian Islands... dichotomously branching stem, minute enations, and lateral synangia which release hundreds of white spores. The Hawaiians collected large quantities of these spores and used them like talcum powder. Each synangium consists of 3 fused eusporangia on a very short lateral branch.
-------------------------------------------- Cool.
Here in Hawaii it is called Moa and is native and therefore of historical importance to Hawaiian people. I have seen it growing primari...Read More
After about a decade after the original plant died...some stems of this fern have risen out of a pot of Sansevieria. I must have reused t...Read More
In a sense, this may be the evolutionary grandmother of all vascular plants. With its primitive structure of being all stems, with no le...Read More
I purchased one from an online nursery in mid-December 2006. It was planted in a spot with good light and protection from the elements, b...Read More
I have had Whisk Fern, Psilotum nudum growing in the "boot jacks" of my Sable palm for several years now. The conditions in the bootjack...Read More
this is an interesting plant that I found growing in one of my pots a few years ago. Its still going/growing in the pot (Don't know what...Read More