# Who has Microsorum pteropus sp. 'red' ?



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

I was wondering who has this species of java fern and would like to see pictures of the plants if you have them. I have only seen 1 person that has a picture of this plant showing somewhat redish colored leaves and to me I can't see a real difference between this and the more common microsorum pteropus. Now is this an actual sp. that has been identified? It would seem that there would be more people that have this and be able to provide pictures of this plant showing the red leaves or is this the case of someone that had some sort of mutation or color variation in the more common java fern? Enlighten me to why a plant that looks almost exactly like microsorum pteropus fetches a higher price when I clearly don't see any difference.


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## raven_wilde (Jul 12, 2006)

I purchased something that was allegedly a red variety of java fern but I've yet to see any evidence to suggest that it was anything other than a rip off.


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## aweeby (Oct 1, 2011)

i believe the original seller was manini. in immaculate conditions it's leaves apparently turn red. I've never seen in IRL, but he does have some very rare plants that can't be found anywhere else. So while I wouldn't shell out that much money for it, I do believe that it's 'real', if that's what you're asking.


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

It is a pretty Java fern, I like the bullated fronds. Mine just threw a forked frond that was pretty red.


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## wabisabi (Jan 31, 2011)

The leaves are red only when they are new. As the leaves age they turn green just like regular microsorum pteropus. I believe manini stated this when he offered it one or two sales back.


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## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

wabisabi said:


> The leaves are red only when they are new. As the leaves age they turn green just like regular microsorum pteropus. I believe manini stated this when he offered it one or two sales back.


I have read the same thing but where are the pictures of others that have this plant showing the new leaves coming in that are red? I would think if this was an actual species and somewhat stable there would be more information or pictures of it. I guess I should have been more clear when I stated that it looked like microsorum pteropus what I should have said is it looks like microsorum pteropus 'Philippine'. That variety shows the bullated leaves like in Kathyy's picture. So is this a completely different species or is this just a color mutation of microsorum pteropus 'Philippine'?


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## wabisabi (Jan 31, 2011)

TPT has an entry for it. Here: http://http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/myplants/136-Red_Java_Fern_Microsorum_pteropus_Red.html

According to the link it originates from Thailand. I think it is a different variety of microsorum pteropus that happens to have reddish/brown leaves. There are many, many varieties of microsorum pteropus that are not circulating in the US hobby. Maybe a handful of collectors have several different varieties here, but not much. 

I think the reason you don't see many pictures of 'red' is because there are not many people who have it. Those who do, still need to figure out the best growing conditions to bring the red out. Then on top of that many people don't post much pictures in general. Just speculation though.


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## manini (Oct 18, 2007)

The Microsorum pteropus sp. 'red' plant that I originally got was from Thailand. Like stated in a previous post, the plant will show a red color as a new leaf. As the plant leaves mature, the tips of the leaves fade away and the mature leaf turns green. If I am not mistaken, Microsorum sp. 'Philippines' new shoots do not to red at all. Their new shoots and tips will always be a translucent green color and not a light pinkish to orangy red color. Also, I have yet to grow M. 'Philippines' leaves larger than M. sp. 'red' which gets roughly about 12 inches. M. sp. 'red' leaves also grows in a much more vertical way than any other species of fern that I know of. I've also notice that when M. sp. 'red' is grown in higher light, the new shoots tend to turn a brighter red than usual. In lower light, the red is not as obvious.

This is a 120P. As you can see by the size, M. sp. 'red' is a very large plant. Leave growth is vertical and also you can see the tips of the leaves (center plant) with an orangy/red color.









Sorry for the blury photo but a closer look of the center plant with orangy/red leaves.









Lastly, a plant that I took out of the water and just trimmed off all of the older leaves. As these newer leaves mature, they sadly turn green.








This is the tank that the fern (shown above) was taken from originally. You can see it on the very bottom left corner closest to the ground.









If I were to guess if this was a form or variant of Microsorum sp. 'Philippines'? It could be possible, but when I compare them side by side, I would have to say no. Then again, I could be wrong. Hope this helps.


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## Craigthor (Sep 9, 2007)

I have to say Maninis' experience is similar to mine. When in my super high light 150 3x 150 watt MH and 8x 39 watt T5HO they new leaves were reddish orange. Since moving to the new tank with much lower light most of the day is 30ish par where they are with a couple hour burst at 70 par the new leaves stay much more green. Also when they got super shaded by some other plants they started producing a ton of plantlets. 

I did move some higher in my tank a few days ago so it should be getting alot more par during the day so I will see what happens.

Craig


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## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

Just to be clear I wasn't accusing anyone of selling this type of java fern as something other than Microsorum pteropus 'red' it's just that there is not a lot of information or pictures out there from anyone other than Manini so I was hoping to see more pictures from others showing the red leaves. And thanks Manini for explaining some of the other differences such as the size of the plant. It looks like it will be a cool addition to the hobby, now just to get others to grow this plant and understand it's requirements. I know there is lots of plants that are out there that haven't made it to the hobby yet and the more info that can be shared the better it will help us understand this hobby.


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