Anthurium andreanum

Anthurium

About

The anthurium is a flowering, perennial plant and has beautiful, long lasting flowers that come in a variety of colors. However, the ‘flower’ is actually an altered leaf (also called spathe) with many flowers on the spadix.

The actual flowers on the spadix are surrounded by four stamens and they have many pistils. These flowers are both bisexual and protogynous, which means that the spadix is going through a female phase first. A male phase follows after about a month. Standard varieties of anthuriums are recognized by its uniform colors and heart-shaped spathes. In many markets, red is the most popular color.

Other types include the obake anthuriums which are larger than the standard ones and their spathe has a more prolonged shape that comes in two or more colors.