ANTHURIUM - A FLOWER FOR WASE PAR EXCELLENCE

ANTHURIUM- FLOWER PAR EXCELLENCE

Common name: Flamingo flower, Tail flower, Painter's palette
Botanical name: Anthurium andraeanum   Family: Araceae (arum family)

Anthurium, pronounced an-THOO-ree-um, are once-seen, never-forgotten flowers.

Their unmistakable glossy heart-shaped bright red flower bract (which gives them their popular name of painter's palette) surrounds the true flowers, which are in the form of a spike (or spathe) at the centre.

Anthurium is a large species, belonging to the arum family (Araceae). Anthurium can also be called “Flamingo Flower” or “Boy Flower”, both referring to the structure of the spathe and spadix.

A tropical perennial herb growing up to 20" tall; it has dark green heart-shaped leathery leaves and a green stem.

 

Anthurium flowers are small and develop crowded in a spike on a fleshy axis, called a spadix, a characteristic of the Araceae. The flowers on the spadix are often divided sexually with a sterile band separating male from female flowers. This spadix can take on many forms (club-shaped, tapered, spiraled, and globe-shaped) and colors (white, green, purple, red, pink, or a combination).

The spike in the middle is called the spadix, and it carries the Anthurium flowers. The spike is the characteristic of the Araceae or Arum family.  The flower are dioceous (i.e)The flowers are hermaphrodite consisting of both male and female flowers; and believe it or not, the band that separates the two-toned colors on the spadix actually divide the male flowers from the female flowers.

Anthuriums come in shades of reds, pinks, white, lilac, green and chocolate brown.

The spathe is the brilliant-colored, shiny outer portion that looks like the collar or hood of the flower; and it’s available in different colors such as a single color (red, yellow, rose, orange, green, or white) or possibly multi-colored including green and red. The spathe looks almost plastic and feels leathery to the touch. The color of the spathe changes between the bud stage and the time the flower expands; and it can change from pale green to burgandy to reddish brown.

Anthrium can also grow in the following forms:

Epiphytes:  A plant that grows on another plant and has roots that can hang from the canopy all the way down to the rainforest floor

Terrestrial plant: Plants that are found in the understory of the rainforest and grow on the land

Hemiepiphytic: Plants that begin its life as an epiphyte and later grows roots down into the ground

Lithophytes:  Plants that grow in rocks

 The seeds are small subglobose berries.

The flower bracts have a puckered appearance and shine as though they were varnished.

Anthuriums will bloom more or less continuously, each plant having four to six flowers during the year.

ANTHURIUM AS A POTTED PLANT OR HOUSEPLANT

Anthurium is easy to grow. This tropical plant can be grown as houseplants. They’ll need temperatures between 60-72 degrees with less light compared to most houseplants. Give them as much light as possible without direct sunlight. If there isn’t enough light, leaves will become distorted. They need to be watered thoroughly and then allowed to dry slightly before watering them again.  If the plant dries out, it will slow down the growth cycle. Drying out can also cause root damage and will also cause the tip of the plant to burn. If you water it too much, you can not only cause root damage, but the leaves will turn yellow. The leaves are sturdy enough that you can wipe them off with water to remove dust.   They will bloom indoors year round if grown in the correct environment and are durable enough to survive as an indoor foliage plant for a long period of time.

                             

ANTHURIUM AS A CUT FLOWER

As far as cut flowers, Anthuriums are one of the most popular tropical plants, next to orchids and bird of paradise. They have a long vase life of about six weeks, and even more depending on the variety.

Each flower will last about six weeks on the plant or several weeks when cut and placed in a vase of water.

As the longevity of the cut flowers , when properly maintained it has a great market both at floral shops and homes and offices.

PROPAGATION OF ANTHURIUM

Anthuriums can be propagated by separating crowded clusters  or through cutting to get the same type of plants.

In order to increase one's collection of Anthurium you may divide the plants and root cuttings or you may pollinate your plants and grow new ones from seed

HYBRIDISATION

If you can wait for  some time for Anthuriums to flower, Seeds are the best and can be obtained by HYBRIDISATION.

In Anthurium seed propagation  is not automatically achieved by the plant except in a few species ( i.e. A. gracile, A. scandens and A. bakeri ) due to the sequence of events in the sex life of the plant. Anthuriums have perfect flowers, bearing both male and female working parts. The difficulty is this; the stigma (female) is ready for pollination before the pistals (male) presents its pollen. In nature this helps to insure cross-pollination and discourages self-pollination. For the grower who wants to pollinate his plants, this creates some nuiscence.

Identifying,  when a paricular Anthurium inflorescence is ready for pollination is a very easy matter. The stigma will exude a drop of fluid  which will sit at the apex of each individual flower on the spadix. Some species present this droplet on all flowers at the same time and others may present theirs in succesion. This usually takes place in the early morning hours. At any rate when these droplets are present, the flower is 'ready' to be pollinated.

Having pollen ready for this momentus occasion is going to be the "trick" you will have to learn. One way is to grow several clones of the same species to help insure that stigmatic fluid and pollen are present at the same time. Rarely will the same plant have stigmatic fluid and pollen at the same time, although it does happen in some species on occasion. If you only have one clone of a species, then your job becomes more difficult. As many species put forth more than one inflorescence in succession, it is possible to collect and store pollen from an earlier inflorescence and use it when the next inflorescence is 'ready'. Several methods are used to collect and store pollen. Pollen is ready to be collected and/or used when it is visible on the surface of the spadix. The timing of this event is always after the last of the stigmatic fluid is dried up and no longer visible. Pollen will be shed for a few to several days. You can wipe if off with your finger, a brush, or tap it into paper envelopes for storage in a cool dry place. The pollen will not last more than a week or two. Some will store the pollen in air tight containers, with or without a dessecant, some feel the pollen is more likely to mold in the refrigerator. An individual will have to experiment with various methods to find out which fits their species requirements and personal horticultural habits.

So.. if you have stigmatic fluid showing, and pollen exuding, (from storage or another plant) you are ready to pollinate. Simply take the pollen and place in on the spadix and with a brush or your finger smear it up and down and around the spadix. Do this for several mornings in a row or as long as you have fluid and pollen available. Make out a tag with your pollination information on it and wait for the berries to form.

The berries will typically contain one or two seeds, depending on the species and health of the plant. Berries are ripe when they acheive their proper color and size. You will be sure they are ready when they literally 'pop out' of the spadix ( Fig. 3 ). Some species berries 'pop out' all at once and some 'pop out' over a period of several days as they ripen in succession. These berries with their seeds are ready. The seeds can easily be squezed out of the berry between your fingers. The seed should be sown immediatly as it dessicates easily and is not viable for very long. Storage of seed is of little value.

Seed often has a small green radicle already emerging at the time of seed harvest. Germination takes from 1-3 weeks in most cases, but may take longer in some species. Give seedlings a well drained soilless mix and be careful of fungal and bacterial attacks and your seedlings will be well on their way.

STEPS IN GROWING FROM SEED

Ø 1.Squeeze the berries on to wet cotton and leave it for germination.

Ø After the seedlings have gained some acceptable size; plant it over wet moss.

Ø Allow them to grow well and transplant after a height of 4”

PLANTS FOR LARGER COMMERCIAL FORMS

It is better to buy TISSUE CULTURED SEEDLINGS from Reputed Nurseries in Indfia or abroad for large plantations and use drip irrigation system.