Etymology: In reference to this plants stunning appearance.
Distribution: Ecuador and Peru
Sectional Placement: section Pachyneurium
Description: Epiphytic herb; stems, short with numerous rose colored, thick roots descending in mass; leaves, elliptic to oblong-elliptic, arranged in a stiffly upright rossete, with short, ribbed petioles, blade surface bullate and dark purple green, the back of the leaf occassionally purple or red; Inflorescence erect and shorter than leaf, spadix white turning rose, spathe, green, berries are purple.
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Notes: Anthurium superbum is one of the most beautiful species in the genus. Leaf color and texture, a tight rosete of leaves held stiffly erect, and ease of culture make this species a must for any collection of Anthurium.
First collected by C. H. Dodson along the Rio Napo in Ecuador, the plant was subsequently described by Mike Madison, of Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota, Fl.
A subspecies occurs in Peru and is named A. superbum subsp. brentberlinii Croat. The subspecies differs from the type in its narrower leaves, more slender stem, and has fewer flowers per spiral on the spadix.
Click here for T. Croat's more detailed treatment of this species in A Revision of Anthurium section Pachyneurium
Copyright © 2007 by Neil Carroll. All rights reserved.
