Anthuriums: A Beginner Guide

Anthuriums: An Introduction

Anthuriums are herbaceous, perennial, dwarf and compact-looking, epiphytic, ornamental flowering and foliage plants. They belong to the arum family, i.e. Araceae and genus Anthurium. Genus anthurium is considered as the largest genus in the family Araceae and consists of about 1000 species of anthurium plants. Like all other aroids, anthuriums are also tropical and subtropical in their growth habit. Though majority of anthuriums are epiphytic in nature, some species exhibit terrestrial growth habit also.

Figure 1 Anthurium Flowers

Anthurium plants are popularly grown as evergreen houseplants. Anthuriums particularly Anthurium andraeanum plants are cultivated on large scale for export purposes.

As mentioned before, there are flowering anthuriums and foliage anthuriums. Flowering anthuriums are mainly grown for its bright, colourful spathes. Foliage anthuriums are grown for its dark green, velvety, heart-shaped attractive leaves. Leaves of some species have attractive silvery veins also. There are hundreds of cultivars and hybrids of anthuriums available in the market today.

Taxonomy and Origin: Anthuriums are believed to be originated in the tropical Americas. Detailed taxonomic classification of