ANTHURIUM

genus of tropical American herbaceous plants, comprising about 600 species in the arum family (Araceae), many of which are popular foliage plants. A few species are widely grown for the florist trade for their showy, long-lasting blossoms, which consist of colourful leathery, shiny spathes surrounding or subtending a central rodlike spadix that bears numerous tiny bisexual flowers. Flamingo lily (A. andraeanum), with stems up to 60 cm (2 feet) tall, has a salmon-red, heart-shaped spathe about 58 cm (23 inches) long; its hybrids produce white, pink, salmon, red, and black-red spathes. Flamingo flower, or pigtail plant (A. scherzeranum), is a shorter plant with a scarlet spathe and a loosely coiled orange-red spadix. Because anthuriums require warm temperatures and high humidity, they are usually grown under greenhouse conditions.