Hello all this is my first post on this forum. I recently received a plant under this name (Anthurium villenaorum) from equagenera as a bundle with some other Anthuriums. Of the plants I received it seems to be doing the poorest so I've been trying to learn more about the plant but there is nearly no information I can find on it. Searches on Google return mostly results from places trying to sell it and I haven't seen any academic papers or journals that mention the species. I almost suspect this is an incorrect name given the only place it shows up are shops. Does anyone have more info on this plant or can point me to some resources on it?
In case anyone finds this looking up A. villenaorum, I did find that apparently it is not officially described and so the name is not an "official" one. Still looking for more info if you happen to have any!
Jay Vannini gives an exceptionally detailed overview of Anthurium villenaorum in his article, Exotica Esoterica. The species is endemic to Peru, low elevation, San Martin region and is epiphytic. It was first introduced in 2017 and is common in cultivation in Florida and California. His article says that it is considered to be possibly an aberrant form that could be placed in these 3 sections...Cardiolonchium (the velvet leaves) Pachyneurium (the Bird nests) or Multinervium. It has been successfully crossed with both Cardiolonchium and Pachyneurium section plants. Which is unusual because Cardiolonchiums and Pachyneuriums should be genetically too different to cross. However, it may ALSO be placed into its own section with another close relative, A. pulcachense. I live 2 hours from Ecuagenera USA in Apopka and have both the villenaorum and the plucachense from them.
There are many, many, many undescribed species of out there. More are being described slowly, but, it takes time, and there aren't that many aroid botanists doing the work...the field collection, the genetic analysis, etc etc etc. All take time and resources, and the academic institutions where they operate from are likely not funding that sort of research the way it could be funded. Its actually kind of exciting to get undescribed species. If they are ever id'd, then you have the first of the batch in your collection!
Thanks for the article I'll have to give that a read. I thought it was interesting that despite not being described it's name doesn't make that obvious. Philodendron "peru' is another as of yet undescribed species I have but that one is more obvious. Luckily I seem to have solved my problems. It's just a very humidity loving plant from what I can tell. Most of my other plants do okay no matter where I keep them so long as they are surrounded by other plants, but this one really needs to be close to the humidifier to not crisp up.
