# Aglaomorpha vs Microsorum



## harrywitmore (Feb 9, 2004)

I thought I would start this thread so we would not hijack the moss thread. 
Here's a picture of the fern in question.










Here's the useless tag that EA put with it.










First I don;lt know of any real Aglaomorpha species that EA sells. They do sell Aglaomorpha 'Santa Rosa' which is an old hybrid I believe from an Aglaomorpha species most likely coronans and a Drynaria species. Borh are very large with large furry rhizomes with very short internodes.

This is for sure a Microsorum but it's hard to tell which pne. The one most often seen in cultivation in the Florida and Hawaii is M grossum. Once mature it has a 1/4 to 1/2 inch rhizome with internodes much longer say 4". It also produces 10 opposing blades per frond. But when immature it may have 1 to 10 blades. Microsorum scolopendria has only 4 opposing blades but looks almost identical otherwise. As an immature plant they would be hard to tell apart. Microsorum pustulatum looks very much like the 2 above but the difference is that the viens in the leaves are very distinct while the others are not. So, my guess is that you have M grossum but it will be hard to tell for a while. The plants they sell are not mature enough.

The moral to this is never trust the tags you see from EA. They have nice plants but their tagging system is absolutely useless.


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## boogsawaste (Jun 28, 2008)

Very good information and thanks for making this a new thread. Would there be any parts of the plant you would be interested in seeing pictures of? I'm no plant guru. I will get one of the fronds tomorrow. I don't have a great camera so I'll do my best for a close up.


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## Okapi (Oct 12, 2007)

Sorry, I should have read all of your post.
When I bought it it was marked as this:
kangaroo fern (Microsorum pustulatum)
PlantFiles: Pictures of Kangaroo Fern (Microsorum pustulatum)
K&M Nursery, 3 Gallon Ferns
The tag basically said:
Its called kangaroo fern because the fuzzy rhizome is said to look like a kangaroo's paw. 

Im testing out how it will do in a vivaria. I cut off a rhizome that had 4 leaves and tucked it, along with some sphagnum, into a section of driftwood. Its only been about two weeks so im not sure what will happen.
I have it in the top right corner of my 55 gallon:


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## boogsawaste (Jun 28, 2008)

Well if it's the same one I have, which it looks like in your picture, it should be ok in your viv. I've had some fronds of mine in there now for a while and while they aren't growing as fast as my mother plant (outside of the vivarium), they are continuing to grow. I also don't have any of the clippings directly in the soil as they are all growing ephiphytically (unlike the mother plant which is potted).


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## harrywitmore (Feb 9, 2004)

According to what I have read, the fronds of M pustulatum should have very distinct black veins. The fronds on your plant do not appear to be that way. So, I would have to guess that it's most likely M grossum or scolopendrium. But to tell the difference in these plants you would have to have a mature specimen or a microscope to look at the rhizome scales. I will do some more reading today. M grossum and scolopendrium are said to be epiphytic while M pustulatum is mostly terrestrial. This would make no difference in how you planted either in the viv.

Regardless, don't feel bad about not placing a name on these. I've got 2 or 3 pots and have never positively named them. They are easy, forgiving but they can get large so be prepared to cut.

I'll get some pictures of what I have today.


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## boogsawaste (Jun 28, 2008)

You're right about the veins in mine as they aren't very apparent unless you hold them up to a light. I guess no more pictures are needed since it wouldn't matter anyway. I guess I'll just have to live with not knowing for sure, but at least it's now down to 1 of 2! 

Like I said it's not growing like a weed in the viv, but in front of my window it has definitely grown a lit more then when I bought it. I just added another light on the viv so we'll see if it's still slow. If not, I like the way it looks so I can just go about cutting. I removed a LOT of plants from the viv in question so there is more room for it to grow. Thanks for all your help Harry!


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## harrywitmore (Feb 9, 2004)

I took some pictures of what M grossum looks like. I have 3 baskets and after looking at all three I'm all but positive I have grossum which makes sense.

Here's what a mature frond looks like. It started off with fronds with one blade up to eventually what you see here. Note you don't see any vein other than the central vein. This was tagged M pustulatum which is incorrect.










Here is the shot that makes me certain it's M grossum. The rhizome scale is very distinctive and matches grossum to a tee. It does not look like the scale of M pustulatum or scolopendrium.










So if your rhizome scales are like this and have a very distinctive look of a tadpole then I believe you have grossum. I'm positive you don't have pustulatum as the veining is always apparent and should be easily seen. This fern is also sold as diversifolium which is a synonym of M pustulatum. If anyone has differnt looking rhizome scales I would like to see a picture.

Here is a picture of Aglaomorpha brooksii. A coronans is very similar.


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## skylsdale (Sep 16, 2007)

I'd say it's probably_ Microsorum diversifolium _(or Kangaroo Paw Fern). Saw one just like yours at Lowe's this morning with the _M. diversifolium_ label.


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## harrywitmore (Feb 9, 2004)

skylsdale said:


> I'd say it's probably_ Microsorum diversifolium _(or Kangaroo Paw Fern). Saw one just like yours at Lowe's this morning with the _M. diversifolium_ label.


It's not M diversifolium since that is a synonym for M pustulatum and it has distinctive veins you can easily see in the fronds. The plants at Lowes come from EA and I'm pretty sure they are M grossum. Their tags are almost never corrct so don't go by them.

I actually wrote all this in the previous post but I guess you didn't see it.


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## boogsawaste (Jun 28, 2008)

Here's my rhizome. It's hard to tell if they are tadpole shaped without a magnifying glass (can you believe I cannot find one laying around!?!?!), but it's definitely a different color than yours. Mine has dark green rhizomes with densely packed brown scales. I don't have a decent camera so I couldn't do any closeups like you have but this is the best I can get before it becomes totally out of focus.


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## harrywitmore (Feb 9, 2004)

boogsawaste said:


> Here's my rhizome. It's hard to tell if they are tadpole shaped without a magnifying glass (can you believe I cannot find one laying around!?!?!), but it's definitely a different color than yours. Mine has dark green rhizomes with densely packed brown scales. I don't have a decent camera so I couldn't do any closeups like you have but this is the best I can get before it becomes totally out of focus.


I wouldn't put too much stock on the color since they are being grown under very different conditions. Mine is in a cold greenhouse so it is not producing allot of scales but it does in the summer months.


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## boogsawaste (Jun 28, 2008)

That's why you are the plant man lol. Thanks for the help.


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## skylsdale (Sep 16, 2007)

harrywitmore said:


> It's not M diversifolium since that is a synonym for M pustulatum... I actually wrote all this in the previous post but I guess you didn't see it.


Oops...I scanned it a bit too quickly and missed that comment about it being a synonym.


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## Otis (Apr 16, 2006)

More pics of a fern I've been trying to ID for over a year labeled "indoor hanging foliage basket." Thanks for posting this Harry! I think its M. diversifolium/pustulatum.


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## boogsawaste (Jun 28, 2008)

Emily, yours looks very similar to mine except for that pic with the yellow spots. I'm guessing that yours looks more mature than mine though so that is maybe the case. Your frond looks exactly the same as mine too. I also don't see any dark veins on the fronds so it's probably not pustulatum. With my limited knowledge on plants I'm guessing you have grossum also. I'm sure harry will be on and give you a better idea though.

Forgot that in case you didn't know that it my fern in the first post posted by Harry. We didn't want to hijack another thread that someone asked me for the id of it.


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## harrywitmore (Feb 9, 2004)

The dots on your plant are curious. They only appear to be on some fronds. I have been doing some more reading and there is another possibility that seems to be in cultivation here. It's Microsorum banjeriana. The only difference from M grossum seems to be the rhizome scale. M banjeriana's scale is a dot with a thin tail. Yours looks like M grossum to me. 

What I mean by distinctive veins is something similar to what you see in Microsorum muscifolia. Notice how the veins are very easily seen.











The fronds of M pustulatum should be similar. This is a very old problem in the cultivation of these ferns. They have been misnamed for a long time.


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## Otis (Apr 16, 2006)

boogsawaste said:


> Emily, yours looks very similar to mine except for that pic with the yellow spots. I'm guessing that yours looks more mature than mine though so that is maybe the case. Your frond looks exactly the same as mine too. I also don't see any dark veins on the fronds so it's probably not pustulatum. With my limited knowledge on plants I'm guessing you have grossum also. I'm sure harry will be on and give you a better idea though.
> 
> Forgot that in case you didn't know that it my fern in the first post posted by Harry. We didn't want to hijack another thread that someone asked me for the id of it.


I am not really sure what those spots are either, I've had the plant for over a year and they just started appearing a few weeks ago on a few fronds. They are pretty cool plants, mine has almost doubled in size since last year, but now its so overgrown in the pot I don't know if it would be safe to try and propagate some for a viv.

That Microsorum muscifolia reminds me of the java fern, just terrestrial and more veiny.


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## boogsawaste (Jun 28, 2008)

otis07 said:


> I don't know if it would be safe to try and propagate some for a viv.


If yours is grossum like mine is suspect to be I have had it in my viv for quite some time now. It hasn't grown very fast in there, but it is growing.


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## harrywitmore (Feb 9, 2004)

otis07 said:


> I am not really sure what those spots are either, I've had the plant for over a year and they just started appearing a few weeks ago on a few fronds. They are pretty cool plants, mine has almost doubled in size since last year, but now its so overgrown in the pot I don't know if it would be safe to try and propagate some for a viv.
> 
> That Microsorum muscifolia reminds me of the java fern, just terrestrial and more veiny.


Java fern, Microsorum pteropus, is really a marginal and makes a great terrarium fern. You of course most often see it grown in aquariums but that's not where it grows naturally. It should do very well growing in a stream or waterfall. M muscifolia is an epiphyte and grows much like most Aglaomorpha species. It traps debris which feeds it as it breaks down. It does great in terrariums but will very quickly outgrow them. It's what is being sold as Crocodile Fern.

Microsorum grossum is easily propagated from a 2 node rhizome cutting which will have no impact on the overall plant. Have you used any bleach in the area of this fern. The spots are puzzling. Are the spot on the top or bottum of the frond. Does your fern have any fronds which have more than 4 pairs of lobes. Your fern sort of matches the description for M scolopendrium.


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## Otis (Apr 16, 2006)

harrywitmore said:


> Java fern, Microsorum pteropus, is really a marginal and makes a great terrarium fern. You of course most often see it grown in aquariums but that's not where it grows naturally. It should do very well growing in a stream or waterfall. M muscifolia is an epiphyte and grows much like most Aglaomorpha species. It traps debris which feeds it as it breaks down. It does great in terrariums but will very quickly outgrow them. It's what is being sold as Crocodile Fern.
> 
> Microsorum grossum is easily propagated from a 2 node rhizome cutting which will have no impact on the overall plant. Have you used any bleach in the area of this fern. The spots are puzzling. Are the spot on the top or bottum of the frond. Does your fern have any fronds which have more than 4 pairs of lobes. Your fern sort of matches the description for M scolopendrium.


 Didn't know the java fern was a microsorum sp. I use this stuff in all my newt tanks and grows very similarly to grossum and it has just started to take over a waterfall in my mantella tank. 

I have not used any bleach or chemicals/ferts with this plant, just strait tap water like usual. The spots are on the underside of the frond, but only on a few fronds, the majority of the bottoms have spores or are solid green. I did not find any fronds with more than four lobes. I looked at pics of M. scolopendrium and from the ones I found, the spores on this plant seem to be more orange in color. It could be a difference in locality of the plant, or the picture could have been mislabeled, but the spores on mine are more of a mustardy yellow.


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## harrywitmore (Feb 9, 2004)

It seems M grossum and scolopendrium are considered to be the same species to some but others tend to separate them. Spore patches tend to change color as they mature so it's hard to nail it down to a single color. I think you are ok putting either name on your plant. It's a nice plant for sure. If you want to compare we could exchange cuttings. Just PM me if you are interested.


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## roxrgneiss (Sep 30, 2007)

Hey Harry,

I just found a couple pots of what I think might be M grossum at a Lowe's. They weren't labeled as such (EA of course) and the fronds aren't mature (I know now ), so I wasn't sure of what I was taking home. Later, I found that a couple fronds have a single lobe, so I am assuming there are more lobes to come. I looked up the name given by EA and the google images didn't match.... then I remembered this thread!  Oh well, it's a neat plant, even if a little large for my terrariums.

Maybe cutting back the rhizomes periodically would cause the fronds to remain immature? I probably won't try it, but I am curious.














































Cheers,
Mike


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## Otis (Apr 16, 2006)

I just bought three of these at Lowes this past week, just have not had the chance to download the pictures yet. They were only 5$ which I didn't think was bad at all. They also had some hanging backets of Dischida (sp?) and Hoya for 10 bucks, so I would recommend taking a trip to lowes!


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