Do Anthurium grow in water?

Discussion in 'Araceae' started by photopro, Aug 6, 2009.

  1. lorax

    lorax Rising Contributor 10 Years

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    Wellll.... from my observations, many of the Anthuriums from Sect. Belolonchum grow as riparians; IMHO these are among the nicest of them in terms of leaf size and shape, and also in terms of brightly coloured inflorescences. A. giganteum is a good place to start. Also, as Dr. Croat mentions in his note above, members of the Sect. Calomystrium are often riparians.

    Best of luck!
     
  2. hydrophyte

    hydrophyte Active Member

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    So do you mean that Sect. Belolonchum species are large in size?
     
  3. lorax

    lorax Rising Contributor 10 Years

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    They're huge. The new species that Steve and I were discussing earlier in this same thread, which is a riparian grower... well, let's just say that in cultivation I've seen it throw leaf blades in excess of 6 feet in length and fairly broad across the widest point. In the wild, the leaves can get even bigger - the captive specimens I've been observing are being grown as plain terrestrials in the Quito Botanical Gardens, while the type specimen is growing right on the seasonally flooded banks of the Rio Nambillo and I've observed leaves of up to 8 feet length on that puppy. The plant itself is freestanding in the same way as the Meconostigma Philos, and on the type specimen it was more than 7 feet tall. The captives are only slightly shorter.

    Other members of Sect. Belolonchum include the aptly named A. giganteum which puts out very large leaves in its own right. I believe that this is one of the plants that Steve has in his galleries.
     
  4. hydrophyte

    hydrophyte Active Member

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    Well for this application I really need smallish plants. Anything taller than 18" (45 cm) or so is too big. I think I saw that some of those other species mentioned above are smaller. Do species in Sect. Calomystrium share any general characteristics?
     
  5. photopro

    photopro Well-Known Member

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    Beth, what is the status of the spadices you've observed in the wild? I'm curious if the berries are close to being ripe since I don't want the birds to get all of them!.
     
  6. hydrophyte

    hydrophyte Active Member

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    Well like I said I do hope to acquire some of these. I have no experience starting Anthurium seeds, but I'd really like to take a crack at it. Beth I would like to know more about how you might be able to collect and export/import material, and Steve I also wondered if you might be interested in collaborating on an import via Ecuagenera(?). That could be fun to test out some species for growing in ripariums.
     
  7. photopro

    photopro Well-Known Member

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    Starting Anthurium seeds is not difficult but will teach you patience! I place the seeds in an extremely porous soil mix with the top layer composed mostly of sphagnum moss. The seeds are kept slightly damp and covered in anything like a fast food salad container to keep the humidity high with moderately bright light. They sprout in a week or so but you can expect to grow them for two years before they even begin to resemble an Anthurium. After that, with descent care they grow much faster and I've grown them to blooming size in three years.

    As for our friends at Ecuagenera, we can do an order just about anytime you like. I receive an average of three orders per year from them and will gladly make the arrangements although they'll ship to anyone from any of the shows they do in the U.S. You have to give them at least a one month lead on the order but I've never received a bad plant in the 5 years I've been ordering.

    If you visit their website you can find a list of shows and the approximate shipping dates. http://www.ecuagenera.com/epages/whitelabel4.sf/?ObjectPath=/Shops/ecuagenera

    You'll find the aroids by clicking on Tropical Plants to the left.

    Pepe and Ivan will quickly tell you they do the best they can to give you a good species' name but there are so many undescribed plants in Ecuador you just might receive something totally new to science. I have more than a few that turned out to be similar to a known species but are in fact undescribed species.
     
  8. hydrophyte

    hydrophyte Active Member

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    Oh starting them from seed does sound like fun and I really would like to try. It would also be handy to get some mature material to work with. I should put together an inquiry for Ivan to see what they might be able to turn up. If you have any space it could be handy to split up an order to avoiding losing any super great accessions while I bumble around, because I don't have any experience with Anthurium.

    Beth do you ever see any Spathiphyllum there out in the woods?
     
  9. lorax

    lorax Rising Contributor 10 Years

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    Steve, it's looking like mid October for ripe berries on the tenative A. lucasii, and I wouldn't worry too much about the birds since I'm monitoring no fewer than 6 inflorescences that are currently maturing. If not, I will through heck or high water send you a live bit, probably via the MOBOT if it has to come to that. I'll also be pickling immature spadices when it comes time to do the collection. I will keep the whole forum posted with the pics I take at collection time.

    Hydro: There are indeed some lovely Spathis here, particularly one that produces a striped purple spathe. They're also riparians, and start to occur in the same zone as the Dieffenbachias (ie at the lower end of the transitional forests.) Why do you ask?
     
  10. photopro

    photopro Well-Known Member

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    Thanks Beth! Didn't expect an announcement of a name for the plant though! That would certainly be an honor but don't worry folks.......Beth is hanking my chain! Don't kill yourself in the thickets getting the seeds and parts to dry for Dr. Croat.

    I would obviously love to have seeds and or/or a plant to grow. You might want to take a look at the homepage of my website since I just added your photo of the spathe to a promo for the IAS. Since I'm now serving as the Corresponding Secretary for the IAS board of governors I really want to increase the membership roll.

    Any of you that haven't considered joining please drop me a note and I'll tell you of some of the upcoming advantages. One I hope to pull off is a group trip to Ecuador to see Beth and all her wild plant specimens!

    Keep us informed!!!
     
    Last edited: Sep 26, 2009
  11. hydrophyte

    hydrophyte Active Member

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    Well I am searching for more new plants, especially aroids, to grow in my riparium setups. That is my primary interest in the water-associated Anthurium species. There seem to be almost no US sources for species Spathiphyllum and those riparian Anthurium are likewise difficult to come by. I want to look into wild collecting and importing some material.
     
  12. lorax

    lorax Rising Contributor 10 Years

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    Ecuagenera is the way to go until I can get an export license myself, Hydro. You may also want to check into Dieffenbachia, as many of the wild ones I see here are riparian in location at least.

    Steve - I will collect that plant come heck or high water. Scratches will heal! I hope, actually, to make several visits to it over a period of months in order to pickle spathes and spadices at varying degrees of maturity, from just-emerged through anthesis to berry production. I have a better chance of finding out what the pollinator is that way, and possibly catching a few specimens of that to pickle as well. I'm guessing it's going to be a beetle based on the form and habit of the inflorescence, but I have no actual clue. It could even be a bat. And you're right, I'm yanking your chain.

    Congrats on becoming IAS Secretary! It's about time.
     
  13. hydrophyte

    hydrophyte Active Member

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    Thanks Beth. I do plan to send an inquiry to Ecuagenera about this.

    I remember seeing Dieffenbachia in swampy places in Costa Rica. Have you ever observed any smaller species? The wild specimens that I saw looked just like the common parlor plants, pretty tall and with large white-spotted leaves. I really want to see some more of these things out in the wild.

    Do you have a camera and is it easy for you to take pictures? Somebody should send you a camera.
     
  14. photopro

    photopro Well-Known Member

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    Wear some good cover Beth! You're doing something I've always wanted to do so take lots of photos so we can live the journey along with you. That Anthurium is one of the most spectacular plants I've ever seen due to both size and the beautiful inflorescence. I have a feeling there will be lots of botanical gardens as well as collectors looking for a specimen.

    I believe we're all going to see a very active IAS Board of Governors this year and know of a number of plans in the works to make aroid collecting even more enjoyable. Once things are apporoved I'll let all of you know.

    I can tell you for certain the IAS now has a Facebook account and we hope to be answering any questions that pop up on that forum. At least three of us will be monitoring the activitiy so feel free to post an question or thought about how to make the International Aroid Society better!
     
  15. lorax

    lorax Rising Contributor 10 Years

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    Yeah, Steve, I'm looking into Carhart-type industrial overall jumpsuits for collection trips. I'll overheat like mad, but nothing will be able to touch me. If the Nambillo is as high as it was last October, I'll likely also need hipwaders and an anchor rope. There appears to be a grove of the plants in that area, which means that apart from the type, which I will collect from the largest plant I can find that's reasonably accessible (so that type material can be held at QNH, MOBOT, Kew, and likely a few others) and then do some live cuttings of other plants in the grove because I'd like to see how it performs at a lower altitude. Mindo's at about 1200m of elevation, while Puyo is closer to 800 - if it's not resistant to the drop in altitude, it's going to be a real beast to try and cultivate it in greenhouses up in the States. However, given the general resiliency of the other Belolonchums I don't expect any problems.

    On the 'making collection more fun' note, I will continue trying to get a collection licence for the IAS here in Ecuador; if I can pull that off, a collection trip in 2010 will become a very feasable thing. Until then, it would have to be phototourism - see 'em growing but don't take 'em home.

    Hydro, LOL! I'm a semiprofessional photographer, and I most definitely have a camera. What I do not currently have is home internet, and I'm leery of bringing in the cams to download at the cafés. When I have enough backlog to justify burning a CD, I'll bring that into the cafe and post a bunch of pics all at once. However, if you really really want to send me one of the new generation Nikon DSLRs, I wouldn't complain....

    I have yet to encounter a ''small'' Dieffenbachia species here, although there is a great deal of variation within the species I have encountered. I still need to take pics of the one my neighbour collected at Canelos, which is solid green on the stems, with very subtle green on green striping on the leaves, and very obvious white and green striping on the petioles. If I recall correctly, as you go North on in Latin America, D. seguine in all its grand variations becomes the dominant Dieff... However, there's a real lack of data about the Ecuadorean species. If I ever find the time and inclination to just hork the kayak into the Rio Bobonaza and go a'collectin' down into the interior of Pastaza, I would be surprised if I didn't turn up at least one new plant.
     
  16. hydrophyte

    hydrophyte Active Member

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    Sure, I'll just drop one of those "new generation Nikon DSLR" right in the post. Watch for it in your mailbox.

    Now that you mention it, I vaguely recall someone remarking that the Dieffenbachia there in Costa Rica was a variable species with a wide distribution. I remember that a common name there was loteria: presumably some have looked for winning lottery number characters in the leaf variegation. Maybe it was seguine(?).

    Do you ever run into any Phragmipedium orchids, or any other riparian-associated plants in other groups?
     
    Last edited: Oct 1, 2009
  17. photopro

    photopro Well-Known Member

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    Beth, have you checked on the seeds lately????
     
  18. lorax

    lorax Rising Contributor 10 Years

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    Steve, my trip to Mindo got cancelled. So I have my fingers crossed for November sometime. If not, I'll have to hand-pollinate a couple of inflorescences at the QBG and hope that they take.
     
  19. photopro

    photopro Well-Known Member

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    Thanks Beth. I'll be crossing my fingers! Look on the ground to see if any of the seeds germinated there!!!!! (I know you'll do that, I just had to say it!)
     

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