floating antlerfern

plant

Also known as: Ceratopteris pteridoides, water horn fern

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Last updated

July 22, 2026

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Floating antlerfern, also known as Ceratopteris pteridoides, is a small aquatic fern belonging to the genus Ceratopteris. These ferns are found in tropical and warm temperate regions worldwide and are often cultivated as aquarium plants.1

While they can root in mud, they more commonly float on the surface of shallow water. Their leaves are dimorphic, meaning they have two distinct forms: vegetative leaves that are lobed or divided and often have inflated petioles for buoyancy, and fertile leaves that are finely divided. The fertile leaves bear sporangia, which are spore-producing structures.1

Ceratopteris species are valuable research tools due to their rapid life cycle, which allows for the completion of a generation in about four months, significantly faster than most other ferns. This makes them ideal for studying genetic inheritance patterns.12

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water fern
cornuta); floating antlerfern, or water horn fern (C. pteridoides); triangle water fern (C. richardii); and water sprite (C. thalictroides). The plants are widespread in tropical and warm temperate regions around the world, and several are cultivated as aquarium plants. Although water ferns sometimes root in mud,…
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cornuta); floating antlerfern, or water horn fern (C. pteridoides); triangle water fern (C. richardii); and water sprite (C. thalictroides). The plants are widespread in tropical and warm temperate regions around the world, and several are cultivated as aquarium plants. Although water ferns sometimes root in mud,…
Read More