Meet Anthurium, One of Our Specialties

Meet Anthurium: An architectural beauty, a NASA clean air plant, hermaphroditic – but toxic to mammals if eaten.

Anthurium is a genus of flowering herb, with more than 1000 varietals and cultivars. At Sundari, we’re cultivating a wide variety of Anthurium, mostly derived from anthurium andraeanum, and they are little easter egg surprises of color in wide swaths of tropical greens. Anthurium is loved as a houseplant because it likes warm, humid, shade- and it cleans the air- and for cut flower arrangements.

The Spathe
This is the vibrant lance or heart-shaped, waxy, brightly colored part of the plant…. sometimes a second spathe covers the spadix like a hood (see the last red one for an example).

The Spadix
That protruding penis like structure is the Spadix, an erect inflorescence with dense small spiraling flowers covering it from top to bottom.

As a hermaphrodite, this plant is self contained- with both male and Female Parts. It flowers year round, is a perennial, and has a fleshy berry as a fruit.

AA is listed as NASA clean air plant, because it is effective in removing formaldehyde, xylene, toluene, and ammonia from the air.

It’s poisonous for mammals to eat, because it contains fine crystals of calcium oxalate, which can penetrate the lining of the mouth and throat causing painful irritations.

Here are just a few of the varieties growing at Sundari Farms. Craig and Beck are cultivating hybrids and starts for additional gardens here, and in the nursery for other people.