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When you think of tropical flowers, doesn’t the Anthurium immediately pop into your mind? It is that ubiquitous bloom that warms your heart wherever you find it, whether it is at home, a restaurant, in your favourite hotel, or even in those attractive bunches calling out to you at the open-air markets. Indeed, it is truly tropical in that it is indigenous to the Caribbean and tropical America and is a part of the rich tradition of Trinidad and Tobago.
Cultivation of Anthurium as a crop began in Trinidad and Tobago in 1915, when Eugene André introduced Anthurium andraeanum Linden Ex André here and to the rest of the Caribbean. It quickly graced every cocoa plantation (and some citrus as well) as a companion crop becoming an integral part of the landscape of Trinidad and Tobago. The Anthurium industry however was soon to fade away with the demise of the cocoa industry.
Breeding in Hawaii and the Netherlands took Anthurium to a new level. With attractive shapes and an ever-widening colour range, which includes shades of white, coral, orange, pink, red, green, brown, and various patterns, Anthurium quickly climbed the popularity charts – becoming second only to Orchids among tropical flowers.
Anthurium flowers are about 3 mm in size and develop crowded in a spike on an axis called a spadix. This spadix can take on many forms ...more>>
Article by: Professor Pathmanathan Umaharan
Digital enhancement of an Arthur Sukhbir photograph |
