The strange questions are really out today. Another individual just asked how many Anthurium species grow in water as aquatic species since they wanted to grow one in their aquarium. I have been asked this question many times and the answer is NONE! In South and Central America you can find some species such as Anthurium sagittatum Anthurium riparium, Anthurium amnicola, Anthurium werfii, and Anthurium antiquiense growing as riparins in high water during the rainy season and a few will exist for a long time that way. There are species such as Anthurium amnicola and a few of the others mentioned that grow as rheophytes living with their roots attached to moderate or large stones in streams that have a fast water flow but again, these aren't truly aquatic in the strict sense of the term. The downstream side of a rock sitting in water is where the highest spray and humidity is found. If the plant has its roots in the water it would be able to collect highly oxygenated air as a result of the turbulence moving around the rock. The downstream side of the rock is a safer place to exist since the force of the water is much lower as opposed to the upstream side and the plant would suffer less damage while using the rock as a shield. However, the Anthurium is not truly living aquatically in the water since it is attached to the rock near the water's surface. Instead of being aquatic the specimen is a form of a lithophyte or rock dweller (litho-FIT) that uses a specialized position in the river or stream to gain both dissolved nutrients as well as a higher source of oxygen. Botanist Dr. Tom Croat has repeated more than a few times there is no such thing as an aquatic Anthurium species and he is recognized as the world's leading authority in Anthurium species. This entire subject appears to date back to an ad placed in a few garden magazines some years ago offering Anthurium regale grown in water. The ad was poorly written and did not accurately quote the grower! The grower was Dr. Mardy Darian in southern California and Dr. Darian clearly stated in several personal telephone conversations he had grown his seeds in sphagnum moss which was placed in clay pots sitting in very shallow water. The moss acted as a wick to bring the water up to the roots. This is a common way to germinate Anthurium seeds but it is not the way Anthurium species grow year-round in the wild. Most Anthurium species grow on the branches of a tree as epiphytes. Others are terrestrial species but none grow aquatically in water. Virtually all the epiphytic species can be also grown in soil if the soil mix is porous and not soggy. If you try to grow an Anthurium such as Anthurium sold as "Flamingo Flower" in water the poor plant will die a slow death. There are Anthurium plants sold in Hawaii which have been rooted to porous volcanic stone and the stones are left sitting in shallow water. The purpose is to bring water through the stone to the roots of the Anthurium but is not designed to promote aquatic growth. By the way, many Anthurium species grow attached to stone in nature but they are in a rain forest with lots of rain! Sorry about that, but the notion of an "aquatic Anthurium" is not a good idea to try although I fully expect to receive some rebuttal on this subject.
Steve - bang on! I've seen A. saggitatum as well as that big unknown Belolonchum (I found it!) growing in seasonally flooded areas, but they're both firmly rooted in the soils and they do spend most of the year above the waterline.
Tell us where you found it!!!!!! Be sure and post your photos again as well. This is one beautiful Anthurium and one I'd love to be able to grow. Looks like your on your way to co-authoring a new Anthurium species! Have you told Tom? Btw he won't be back from Europe for another week. Congrats!!!!!
In Nambillo and further into the jungle towards Los Bancos, growing on the seasonally flooded banks of the Rio Nambillo - it was right under my nose this whole time! I didn't have my camera with me, but I have the GPS coordinates for it - the specimen plant is a nice old one, about 15' tall once you take into account the fantastic trunk - this thing reminds me more of the Meconostigma Philos than it does an Anthurium, but with the geniculum being so pronounced and the floral structure, it's gotta be the same one - that red sinus and the red-purple new growth, along with the ornate leaf edges, is unmistakable. Apparently this grows on both sides of the cordillera, so I'll be keeping my eyes peeled for it in Baeza as well. I haven't told Tom yet, since I want photographic evidence of it. I was just visiting friends in the area (hence no camera, didn't expect anything exciting), and lo and behold there it was. The minute I have seed some is definitely coming your way. The specimen on the riverbank has even larger leaves than the Botanical Gardens specimens, and out in the wild the inflorescences are actually getting pollinated - in the gardens they just wither up and fall off, which was very disappointing to both me and the curators there.
That is incredible! Please get photos and all the data you can ASAP. I'm pretty sure Tom isn't coming to Ecuador this year since he is trying to got back to French Guiana but this just might change his mind! Is the plant purely terrestrial or did you see any growing as epiphytes? Were the inflorescense new or old? So many questions! Can I get to this plant in a wheelchair????
One last thing! Be sure and post all this on Aroid l. I know Leland Miyano is interested and I've got a feeling some of the really serious growers will go nuts!
To answer your questions: 1. It's purely terrestrial, although I did see one specimen hugging a tree for support - the roots however are firmly in the earth. 2. The inflorescences on the wild plant looked fairly new - they lose that fuchsia colour as they age. 3. Yes, there are examples of this plant growing right along the edges of the river where a nice, paved bridge passes over it - you can't get right in to touch them in a chair, but you can see them fairly close up. I will definitely be cross-posting to Aroid-L, but once I have photos - they're gonna ask for them, and I hate to say that I wasn't expecting to find the plant so I can't prove anything I'm saying...
Don't be afraid to remind all those that ask that the plant is new to science and rare. If you were to be able to provide seeds I'd make sure the accredited gardens get them first. And although lots of folks will want them for free....................., well, you know!
Yeah, well, if I'm sending seeds to anybody who isn't a botanical garden, they're paying. (And I consider you to be a botanical garden specific to Aroids, Steve.) To get up close to these plants I have to wade through thickets of Cat's Claw, and somebody's gonna pay for my blood.
You go girl! I can't wait to see the new photos. Please be sure and get as many detail shots as possible and include both blade surfaces, details of any unusual venation, petioles, cataphylls (both sides) , stems, roots, and anything else you can photograph! If you take a tape measure in there please take measurements of these details as well. You don't know how much I envy you for what you are able to do!
Yup - Dr. Croat gave me the full instructions on how to take a correct set of specimines and field notes, and that's what I'll be doing. Photodocumentation of EVERYTHING, with and without the yardstick in them for scale, and detailed measurements as well - I use a 3-m dressmaker's cloth tape because it's easier to get circumferences that way. The most unusual thing about this plant, aside from the size of the leaf, is the inflorescence - fucshia is a rare colour around here in the aroids.
I knew you'd do it right! I just want to see them myself. I can't wait to see all of it! I'm sure some of the folks on the ER forum would enjoy these as well.
Unexpected bonus! I was looking through my Nambillo shots from last year (incidentally, I was after the pics I took of the local Melostomates) and guess what I turned up? A wild habit picture! So here you go. Not as close up as I would have liked, but nonetheless it is the plant!
Get the "type" collected! I'd love to see this one described in the 2010 IAS Aroideana. More than that I'd love to get some seeds!
There is an Anthurium rivularis that grows in creeks . I think I have it , a very fast grower with long stems .
Mic, I just read all of Dr. Croat's field notes on Anthurium rivularis and he mentions frequently it is found growing on the edges of streams. He states it is a terrestrial species. I will ask again if he would consider this species aquatic.
Greetings: Not particularly good images (had a dying digital SLR on that trip), but you get the idea. http://www.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=68170&stc=1&d=1250878947 http://www.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=68171&stc=1&d=1250878947 http://www.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=68172&stc=1&d=1250879242 Several rheophytic anthuriums spend considerable amounts of time with their feet wet. There is also at least one unrelated, hastate-leaf sp. from Amazonian Peru that, at least on occasion, grows in shallow water. TC has live material of this sp., grown by Lynn H. from seed I collected in 2001. Ciao, JPV
Certainly Jay, it is well know species grow along stream banks. They also stand in water during the heavy rain periods. But Dr. Croat clearly stated there is no such thing as aquatic Anthurium species. There are posts that can be found on the internet saying you "should" grow your Anthurium in water. I receive mail all the time from people that have read that to ask if this is correct. I know you sometimes take issue with my posts and I also realize you are a highly respected and skilled grower with many years of experience and observation of plants in the wild. I do my absolute best to consult with Tom and other botanists before making a potentially controversial post either here or on my website. I am in contact with Tom every week and will continue to stand behind what Dr. Croat has said. There is no such thing as an aquatic Anthurium and they should not be grown in fish tanks or vases of water.
For the record, although I am not going to mention Anthurium species, a related topic is that as far as I know, there are no aquatic Aglaonema either, yet some grow in areas that are flooded seasonally to the point where most of the plant is under water. Because of this, xome people can actually put Aglaonema cuttings in aquaria and have them survive. They are not aquatic, yet have adapted to periodic flooding. Perhaps a few Anthurium species can be considered to be similar in this respect . . . LariAnn
Exactly. Several rheophytic anthuriums have individual plants that successfully colonize deep nooks at midstream where their roots are fully submerged for most of the year. Clearly, these plants are not aquatics in the strict sense, but to a casual observer (that is to say, everyone but us) the difference in terminology is semantics. Coincidentally, both amnicola and rupicola grow in sympatry with a fully aquatic Spathiphyllum sp. (whose name eludes me for the moment) that looks remarkably similar to both of these anthuriums, but that is rooted in the gravel of these streambed and appears to flower and fruit underwater. TC and I kicked around the name of A "aquaticum" for the Peruvian plant for several years before discarding it in favor of another binomial. When (if?) this plant ever sees that light of day, it will be under that name. I did grow a plant of this taxon for quite some time in a submerged pot...Lynn wrote that she did the same for a while...no problems for either of us. Other than rather long petioles for its size and a profusion of advent. roots, the plant is quite unremarkable. http://www.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=68178&stc=1&d=1250883442 http://www.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=68179&stc=1&d=1250883445
I just took this up with Dr. Croat again and I stand corrected. This is Tom's personal note which was received just minutes ago, "(Jay) did find an Anthurium growing in a creek. It had stilt roots. Initially we were going to label it aquaticum but I later found a collection of the same species that was surely not in water so we changed the name. Some Anthurium species DO grow in or practially in water though. Anthurium riparium, A. amnicola, A. werfii, A. antiquiense. All of these are riparian, members of Anthurium sect. Calomystrium, series Rupicola Croat. Keep in mind too that there are some Anthurium species in the Amazon basin that are essentially under water for up to 4 months a year (it is true that the rest of the year they are not even near water but that does show that they can withstand water for long stretches of time)." The term riparium indicates near a creek or the shore of a lake. Anthurium species are broken into sections and subsections based on the species characteristics. I realize few will want to know but if you are interested Dr. Croak explains that subject here: http://www.aroid.org/genera/anthurium/anthsections.php That still does not mean I believe people should spend money on an Anthurium at Home Depot they think would be pretty growing underwater and stick it in a fish tank. I will continue to advise people against the practice unless their plant possesses one of these scientific names.
I must admit I had a bird nest anthurium, unsure of what it was exactly, sitting on the side of my fishpond for over 4 months. It had it roots in the water this whole time, grew new roots, new leaves and didn't really have any ill effect on the plant. Though in saying that, it is now in a pot with soil and I probably wouldn't have left it in water forever... Ed
Oh this is an exciting thread I am so pleased to have found it. Can anybody suggest US sources for any of these riparian/terrestrial Anthurium?
I can't suggest a US source, but for the Ecuadorean riparians Ecuagenera is an excellent shipper. The problem however is that very often they're not sure quite what they're selling. http://www.ecuagenera.com
Yes Ivan from Ecuagenera was at the IAS show and he had really nice stuff. I will plan to send them a request for some of these species--maybe they will have some or know where to look. If I can find some that can grow with roots in water Anthurium might be very good riparium plants because many are nice and sturdy and have attractive leaves and growth habits. Does anybody know anything about that fully aquatic Spathiphyllum mentioned above?
