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Anthurium
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{{Taxobox
| color = lightgreen
| name = ''Anthurium''
| image = Anturio1.jpg
| image_width = 250px
| image_caption = Flamingo Lily (''Anthurium andraeanum'') - flower
| regnum =
Plantae
| divisio =
Flowering plant Magnoliophyta
| classis =
Liliopsida
| ordo =
Alismatales
| familia =
Araceae
| genus = '''''Anthurium'''''
| genus_authority =
Heinrich Wilhelm Schott Schott
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision =
See
List of Anthurium species List of species
}}
'''''Anthurium'''''
Heinrich Wilhelm Schott Schott 1829, is a large neotropical genus of about 600- 800 (possibly 1,000) species, belonging to the arum family (
Araceae). It is the largest and probably the most complex genus of this family. Many species are undoubtedly not described yet and new ones are being found every year.
They grow in the most diverse habitats, mostly in wet tropical mountain forest of
Central America and
South America, but some in semi-arid environments. Most species occur in
Panama,
Colombia and
Ecuador.
''Anthurium'' grows in the many forms, mostly evergreen, bushy or climbing
epiphytes with relatively few roots. They occur also as
terrestrial plant terrestrials or
lithophytes. Some are only found in association with arboreal
ant colonies or growing on rocks in midstream (such as ''A. amnicola'').
The stems are short to elongate with a length between 15 and 30 cm. The simple leaves come in many shapes. Most leaves are to be found at the end of the stem. They can be spatulate, rounded, or obtuse at the apex. They may be erect or spreading in a rosette, with a length up to 40 cm. The upper surface is matted or semiglossy. The
Leaf leaves are petiolate. In drier environments, the leaves can take a bird's-nest-shape rosette that enables the plant to collect water. Terrestrials or epiphytes usually have cordate leaves. Some grow as
vines with rosettes of lanceolate leaves. Some species have many-lobed leaves.
The
flowers are small (about 3 mm) and develop crowded in a
raceme spike with a fleshy axis and called a '''
spadix''', a characteristic of the arums. This spadix can take on many forms (club-shaped, tapered, spiraled, and globe-shaped) and colors (white, green, purple, red, pink, or a combination).
Usually just below the flower spike lies a colorful, solitary '''spathe''': a showy modified bract that can be somewhat leathery in texture. The spathe consists of a tightly packed column of spirally arranged, tiny flowers. The spathe can vary in color from pale green to white, rose, orange or shiny red (such as ''A. andrenaum''). The color changes between the bud stage and the anthesis, (the time the flower expands). Thus the color might change from pale green to reddish purple to reddish brown.
The flowers are
hermaphrodite, containing male and female flowers. The
fruits are usually berries with one to multiple seeds on a pendent infructescence.
The flowers of ''Anthurium'' give off a variety of fragrances, each attracting a variety of specific pollinators.
Several species are popular in the florist trade as pot plants or cut flowers and for interior decoration. They include forms such as ''A. crystallinum f peltifolium'' with its large, velvety, darkgreen leaves and silvery white venation. Most
hybrids are based on ''A. andreanum'' or ''A. scherzerianum'' because of their colorful spathes.
Image:Anthurium digitatum0.jpg thumb|left|225px|''Anthurium digitatum'' - detail
Image:Anthurium-digitatum2.jpg thumb|left|225px|''Anthurium digitatum'' - habit
Image:Anthurium.andraeanum1web.jpg thumb|left|225px|Flamingo Lily (''Anthurium andreanum'')
Image:Pink anthurium.jpg left|thumb|225px|Pink anthurium, grown indoors
Species
For a full list, see
List of Anthurium species
Such a large genus cannot be described by a few general terms.
Heinrich Wilhelm Schott Schott, in his book "Prodromus Systematis Aroidearum" (1860), grouped the then known 183 species in 28 sections. In 1905 Engler revised these sections into 18 sections. In 1983 Croat & Sheffer came up with the following sections :
Belolonchium, Calomystrium, Cardiolonchium, Chamaerepium, Cordatopunctatum, Dactylophyllium, Decurrentia, Digitinervium, Gymnopodium, Leptanthurium, Pachyneurium, Polyphyllium, Polyneurium, Porphyrochitonium, Schizoplacium, Semaeophyllium, Tetraspermium, Urospadix, Xialophyllium.
References
-
Anthurium nomenclature and reference
* Croat, Tom. 1983 - A Revision of the Genus Anthurium (Araceae) of Mexico and Central America, Part I : Mexico and Middle America; Part II: Panama. MBG Press
* Schott, H. W. - Prodromus Systematis Aroidearum. Wien, 1860
* Engler, A. 1905. Araceae-Pothoideae, Das Pflanzenreich IV. 23B, Heft 21, pp. 1-330.
Category:Araceae
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