Anthurium

Life Forms

Herbaceous evergreens , sometimes climbing and very rarely treelike . Anthuriums can be found in various forms, but mainly epiphytes growing on trees, with aerial roots descending to the forest litter of the rainforest . There are many terrestrial species among them, semi-epiphytes are found, that is, plants that begin to grow from seed in the upper tier of the forest and then give aerial roots that descend to the ground, or begin their life as land plants, and then, climbing a tree, turning into epiphytes. Among Anthuriums there are also lithophytes . Some are in symbiotic relationships with colonies of working ants. In savannah species , the stem is reduced; coarse thick plate of the leaf is relatively narrow and very elongated, petiole is very short; airy root nests are formed at the base of the plant with upwardly ending root ends covered with velamen .

Stems and leaves

The stems are thick, often shortened and with shortened internodes, less often the stems are elongated, 15-30 cm long.

Leaves of various shapes (shovel-shaped, rounded, with blunt peaks) and dissection (from solid to complex dissected). Petioles are always with the geniculum . The leaves are located mainly at the ends of the stems, although terrestrial species do not have this tendency. Leaves can be vertical or collected in a rosette, up to 100 cm long in some species (for example, Anthurium angamarcanum ), and Anthurium acutissimum even up to 118 cm long. The surface of the leaves can be matte, semi-gloss or glossy, the structure of the leaves from leathery to brittle, like paper. In a humid tropical forest, the leaves of Anthurium have the unique ability to rotate their leaves after the sun as a sunflower rotates its inflorescence. In a drier environment, the leaves form a rosette, like a bird’s nest, in which plant debris accumulates, allowing water to accumulate and receive natural fertilizer. Terrestrial species of anthuriums and epiphytic anthuriums often have a heart-shaped leaf shape; others grow like a vine with rosettes of lanceolate leaves; in the third, the leaves are multi-pinnate.

Inflorescence and flowers

The cover of the inflorescence is often green or white, but often and brightly colored, like a perianth, in red, purple, pink, and maybe multi-colored. The structure of the bedspread can be leathery. The color of the bedspread can vary from pale green to white, pink, orange or bright red (like Andre's anthurium).

An inflorescence is an ear of corn , which can be club-shaped, conical, spiral or spherical in shape, and can be white, green, red, pink, purple or a combination of these flowers. The flowers are densely arranged on the cob in a series of spirals and look like rhombuses and squares. The flowers are always bisexual, usually with a four-membered perianth and four stamens ; gynoecium syncarpous; stigma is often discoid; ovary two-celled, with 1-2 ovules in each nest.

Flowering

The flowering of anthuriums is peculiar. During the female phase, only stigmas are visible in the flowers, but the stamens are hidden in the recesses of the perianth and the flower looks feminine. Drops of a sweetish viscous liquid attracting pollinators appear on the stigmas at this time. After the liquid dries and the stigma ceases to perceive pollen , stamens appear from under the perianth segments. Reaching full development, in some species they are very elongated and close the stigma. Sometimes, after pollination, the stamens quickly retract to the base of the perianth, and the flower again looks female. The duration of flowering of anthuriums according to the observations of the American researcher T.V. Croat can last from several hours to several weeks.

Anthurium flowers emit a lot of aromas, from subtle to very strong, pleasant or offensive, depending on the needs of pollinators. Different types of anthurium smells vary in chemical composition and appear at different times of the day. Anthurium flowers attract various insects: bees , flies , beetles , wasps .

Fruits

Fruits - juicy, fleshy berries containing from one to many seeds. The color of berries is from bright red to black, the berries can also be two-tone or striped. Seeds are convex, with fleshy endosperm .

Berries are usually carried by animals, mainly birds . As it ripens, the berry is squeezed out of the perianth and hangs on two filiform strips fixed on parts of the perianth.

It comes from the tropical and subtropical regions of Central and South America . The northern boundary of the range is in Mexico , the southern - in Paraguay and in the north of Argentina .

Anthuriums are widespread in the Andes of South America and in the Cordillera of Central America, from ocean level to 3400 m above sea level. Alpine species are mainly epiphytes. In the lower zone of the mountains, at altitudes of 100-300 m above sea level, a special group of anthuriums living in the savannah is widespread.

Decorative leafy, but for the most part flowering varieties, are widely commercialized. A large number of varieties and forms cultivated on the basis of several dozen species and about a hundred hybrids of anthuriums are cultivated. In a culture it is applied as a garden, indoor or cut ornamental plant. The plant is moody, more likely a greenhouse than an indoor one. It is easiest to grow at home in a terrarium.

Anthuriums are demanding of light, heat and humidity. Lighting should be bright, but diffuse. Air temperature in the summer of 20-25 ° C , in the winter of 16-18 ° C. Watering regularly with soft water, plentiful in summer, moderate in winter. The soil should be constantly moist, but the plant does not tolerate stagnation of water. Water must be drained from the sump. Leaves should be often sprayed and wiped with a damp sponge. To increase humidity, the pot is placed in a tray with wet moss. Stalks are also recommended to be covered with wet moss, this stimulates the growth of additional roots and facilitates the care of the plant. In spring and summer, Anthurium is fed once every two weeks, alternating organic fertilizers with mineral fertilizers.

Propagated vegetatively or by seed.

When working with plants, it should be remembered that the juice of anthuriums is poisonous .

Pests: aphids , scale insects . Young shoots and inflorescences are strongly affected by aphids, therefore, in the summer we recommend once a month to perform preventive spraying against aphids.

Sections

Schott, in his book Prodromus Systematis Aroidearum in 1860, grouped the then-known 183 species into 28 sections. In 1905, Engler revised the composition of the clan and divided it into 18 sections. in 1983, the Croatian botanist Schaeffer created the following 19 sections:

Views

Perhaps the most numerous genus of its family, modern sources number 926 ^[3] , others (older) about 500 ^{[4] [5]} species .

Of the many known species, the most famous were several - popular among gardeners for their decorative qualities:

• Anthurium andraeanum Linden ex André - Anthurium Andre , a large species commonly grown in greenhouses
• Anthurium crystallinum Linden ex André - Anthurium crystal , decorative leaf
• Anthurium scherzerianum Schott - Anthurium Scherzer , the most common indoor view

Other known species include ^[6] :

• Anthurium armeniense Croat - Armenian Anthurium
• Anthurium bakeri Hook.f. - Anthurium Baker
• Anthurium bellum Schott - beautiful Anthurium
• Anthurium crassinervium ( Jacq. ) Schott - Anthurium thick-veined , or Anthurium cross-veined
• Anthurium digitatum (Jacq.) G. Don - Anthurium palmate
• Anthurium faustomirandae Pérez-Farr. & Croat
• Anthurium forgetii NEBr. - Anthurium Forgeta
• Anthurium leuconeurum Lem. - Anthurium White-Nosed
• Anthurium × macrolobum W. Bull [ syn. Anthurium × dentatum Gentil - Anthurium dentate]
• Anthurium magnificum Linden - Anthurium is excellent
• Anthurium obtusum (Engl.) Grayum
• Anthurium radicans K.Koch & Haage - Root Anthurium
• Anthurium regale Linden - Royal Anthurium
• Anthurium scandens ( Aubl. ) Engl. - Anthurium climbing
• Anthurium veitchii Mast.txt = - Anthurium Vicha
• Anthurium warocqueanum T. Moore - Anthurium Varoka
• Anthurium willdenowii kunth

For many thousands of years, Anthurium flowers grew in the moist and hot forests of Central and South America, until in 1876 they were discovered by Edward Francois Andre in one of his biological expeditions. He sent one copy of the flower to Europe, so Anthurium ended up in the Royal Kew Botanical Garden (Kew) in England.

In 1889, Samuel Mills Damon, then Minister of Finance of the Hawaiian Islands , brought the Anthurium flower from England and planted it in his garden. Later in the 30 years, thanks to local residents, the flowers spread throughout the islands.

It is worth noting that 1936 was a breakthrough for the Hawaiian flower industry, it was in this year that the Red Anthurium was found in the city of Hilo , in the Ozaki Garden, State of Hawaii, it was the best-selling flower of the time.

Anthuriums bred for decorative purposes at home in Russia are sometimes called "male happiness", and a number of superstitions are associated with them and will take ^{[7] [8] [9]} . According to legend, the gods turned into an anthurium a beautiful girl who threw herself into the fire because of unhappy love, and since then these flowers have brought happiness to every worthy man. In contrast to anthurium, spathiphyllum is called "feminine happiness." According to legend, the goddess of love Astarte breathed into the flower a piece of happiness that overwhelmed her on her wedding day so that the flower brought happiness to every girl who believed in his strength. One of the superstitions says that if you keep pots with anthurium and spathiphyllum close or even transplant into one pot, you can achieve harmony in family relationships ^{[7] [9]} . However, these plants require different conditions of detention ^[9] .

• Anthurium // Angola - Barzas. - M .: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1970. - ( Great Soviet Encyclopedia : [30 vol.] / Ch. Ed. A. M. Prokhorov ; 1969-1978, vol. 2).
• Anthurium // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
• Grudzinskaya I.A. Aronnikovye family (Araceae) // Plant Life. In 6 t. T. 6. Flowering plants / Under. ed. Takhtadzhyana A. L. .. - M .: Education, 1982. - S. 471—473.
• Botany. Encyclopedia "All plants of the world": Per. from English (Ed. Grigoriev D. et al.) - Könemann, 2006 (Russian edition). - S. 99. - ISBN 3-8331-1621-8 .

• Anthurium on the site vseopalmah.ru
• All about Anthurium flowers on the site anturiumi.ru