Plant · GBIF taxon 2650479
Golden Polypody
Phlebodium aureumAlso known as Golden Serpent Fern, Cabbage Palm Fern, Gold-Foot Fern, Blue Star Fern
Golden polypody anchors itself high in tree canopies and palm trunks with thick, creeping rhizomes densely coated in bright golden-brown scales. Its broad, deeply lobed fronds display a soft blue-green or glaucous hue that helps deflect excessive sunlight and reduce water loss. In subtropical forests, it plays a vital ecological role by collecting falling organic debris and creating miniature aerial habitats for tree frogs, insects, and smaller epiphytes.
EpiphyteFernSubtropical
1 / 7—observations
—countries
—peak records
Least ConcernConservation statusIUCN Red List categoriesLCNTVUENCREWEXLeast ConcernRed List categories, explained →
Diet & prey
- Autotrophic (photosynthetic)
Predators
- Herbivorous snails
- Slugs
- Caterpillars
ThreatsCanopy clearing, urban development, and illegal wild harvesting
HabitatsSubtropical hammocks, swamp forests, rainforest canopies, and palm trunks
Life spanPerennial (decades via vegetative rhizome spread)
Classification
- OrderPolypodiales
- FamilyPolypodiaceae
- GenusPhlebodium
- SpeciesPhlebodium aureum
Range data is not available yet.
Interaction riskLow
- Low
- Moderate
- High
- Very high
- Why interaction risk is low
- Safe to observe at a normal distance.
Responsible observation
- Epiphytic Viewing: Look for thick, fuzzy golden rhizomes weaving through the old leaf bases of palm trunks.
- Spore Inspection: Flip mature fronds to find round, bright golden-orange sori arranged in orderly rows.
Frequent Companion Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0 · cc-by-sa
Host Plant (c) Douglas Goldman, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), uploaded by Douglas Goldman · cc-by-sa
Neighbor (c) Kurt Miller, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · cc-by-sa
Close Relative (c) Lena Struwe, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), uploaded by Lena Struwe · cc-by-sa
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