Anthurium Guide | Our House Plants

By Tom Knight

A bit about Anthuriums

Several Anthurium species have become quite trendy as houseplants of late, tending to appear more frequently in many shops and nurseries.

Anthuriums are not the cheapest houseplants you can purchase, especially if compared with the other indoor plants you'll find stocked next to it. However, they're undoubtedly exotic and striking houseplants despite the price tag and arguably well worth the money due to their fairly simple care requirements.

Some Anthuriums produce flowers that can last for months

Plants belonging to the Anthurium family, in general, come from the tropical regions of South America and so thrive in warm and humid environments. This is not always the natural environment in our homes or places of work so some of these tropical plants can be challenging to keep as houseplants. Therefore you'll typically only find some of the more easy going species being sold as houseplants.

How do you pronounce Anthurium correctly? Say: An-THUR-ree-um

The more popular and common species are Anthurium Andreanum and Anthurium Scherzianum which have long-lasting flowers that look good for months. So it's not unusual for these plants to be in almost continuous bloom. With the bright waxy tough flowers hovering above the contrasting green leaves for months on end they're good value and certainly have many fans.

The less common varieties skip the flowers and focus on the foliage instead. Anthurium Clarinervium, Anthurium Crystallinum and Anthurium Luxurians are three examples. These are typically classed as "rare Anthurium houseplants" as they're harder to come by and can have high price tags.

However, they're highly sought after, so more growers will likely be selling them within a few years, at which point you can expect their visibility in stores to increase and prices to tumble.

Why do epiphytes like Anthuriums make good indoor plants? Epiphytic plants usually attach themselves to other plants or objects and do not have a constant supply of water or nutrients. They have to make do with limited rainfall and falling debris for nourishment. All of this means they have to be tough to deal with these unusual growing conditions and fairly extreme environmental variables. Consequently, they'll put up with a lot and in turn make for unfussy houseplants.

The good news, most Anthuriums are epiphytes so they can put up with some poor treatment and can still do well even in the hands of a beginner. Their leaves are generally leathery and tough and can withstand a variety of indoor growing conditions.

They're not truly "easy care" plants though, and even experienced houseplant owners can find them tricky at times, but if you've had some experience with indoor gardening (or are keen to learn) you should be fine. They're pretty self-sufficient, so my top tip is not to fuss them too much.

We're going to quickly cover the more popular available species being sold in a little more detail, so you understand the differences before moving onto the care guide. Feel free to skip ahead.

Painter's Palette (Anthurium Andreanum or Anthurium Antioquiensis)

Of all the species, the Painter's Palette is the easiest one to find in shops. As it's one of the most popular cut flowers in the world, you're probably also going to recognise this plant easily when you see its picture below.

The spathe and flower spike (spadix) can be red, white, cream, maroon or purple or a combination of these. Newer cultivars have started to be sold which have multiple colors so the choice available is high.

When it comes to the availability of flower color with Andreanum you'll be spoilt for choice.

Looking past the flowers, it has arrow-shaped and highly polished leaves with an almost plastic-looking appearance at times, which may get people wondering if the plant is genuine or artificial.

You can tell it apart from Scherzerianum (below) by looking at the spadix, which is always straight.

Flamingo Flower or Pigtail (Anthurium Scherzerianum)

You may struggle to find the Scherzerianum hybrid (pictured below) aka the Flamingo Flower but if you prefer it over Andreanum then it's obviously worth the search.

Although the Scherzerianum is harder to find in stores it's just as elegant as the Andreanum - photo by Romwriter.

The flower spike is also curly like a Pig tail (hence the other common name this plant goes by) rather than straight and usually the same colour as the spathe whereas the Painter's Palette has a straight spathe. Providing they're in flower, this is the easiest way to tell the two varieties apart.

The other visual difference is Scherzerianumhas different shaped leaves, being longer and more slender than Andreanum.

Anthurium Clarinervium / Velvet Cardboard

Large heart-shaped leaves that have highly contrasting markings make the Clarinervium pop where ever you grow it. New leaves are a red or rusty colour and as they mature, they'll gradually change to a darker green.

Like the previous species there are flowers, but they're pretty basic and can't compete with the foliage on this plant. Flowers can take up a lot of energy, so you're free to remove them once they start forming if you'd prefer your plant to focus its efforts into producing more leaves.

It might look like it's going to be a diva, but actually, it's a very easy houseplant - Photo by Román__PG

Anthurium Crystallinum

Crystallinum is very similar to the Clarinervium, they have the same markings and share the dark velvety-green leaves which can get close to 40cm in length. They do however grow faster than the Clarinervium so in some ways they're a better plant.

What is the difference between Anthurium Crystallinum and Clarinervium? The Clarinervium has slightly darker and smaller leaves, which are a little thicker than those of the Crystallinum. The Crystallinum also has a longer more elongated leaf shape.

The leaf shape is different though, the Clarinervium tends to be a little more desirable because the shape is very obviously heart-shaped. Although the Crystallinum has a similar shape, the heart is much more elongated, so it loses some of that "cute" compact appeal.

The price between the two plants can be significant too. Again this will vary between countries and is largely down to availability in your particular area. Both are fairly straightforward to care for, but again don't fuss them too much as they're fairly self sufficient once established.

Anthurium Crystallinum - Photo by Ahmad Fuad Morad

Anthurium Luxurians

Another fairly new Anthurium where the focus is solely on the foliage. The leaves have ripples or blisters that distort the surface resulting in the light reflecting off it to create a real show stopper. Again largish leaves making this an impressive specimen and rare houseplant.

The reality for this one is that very few people will own it because the asking price is often incredibly high. Unlike almost all plants mentioned on this website, we don't own one (yet) so for now if you want to learn more check out Kaylee Ellen's youtube video.