Types Of Anthuriums Produced By The University Of Hawaii, Part II

This is the second article in my compilation of posts on anthurium cultivars produced by the University of Hawaii.

The UH has an agriculture program that was one of the frontrunners in producing fresh anthurium flowers over the past several decades. This department has been at the leading edge of developing cultivars that are: far more resistant to illness, higher yielding, much more colorful and able to be preserved longer following being harvested. In this line of reports, I'm going to highlight the fruits of their efforts.

The Le'ahi is a green and pink obake anthurium that's named after the Hawaiian name for Diamond Head, the well-known volcanic cone that's a popular Oahu landmark. The Le'ahi's retains its beautiful pigmentation year-round and generates nearly 8 flowers per year. Regrettably, it is sensitive to blight, so it's a somewhat harder cultivar to grow.

The Le'ahi was made by blending an offspring of orange-colored UH931 along with a pink-colored Blushing Bride. It is a cultivar that will work well as a potted plant and as a cut flower. However as a cut flower, a few say it has a stem which is a little too short. However its uncommonly stunning color pattern, helps to offset its short stems.

The New Era is a purplish-pink flower that acquired its name by being the first blight resistant anthurium. It's bringing in a new era of blight resistant anthuriums. It has a slightly elongated spathe and a yellow-green spadix that becomes white-colored as it matures.

The New Era is a final result of crossing 3 distinct cultivars. An A494 Anthurium andraeanum was crossed with an A. antioquiense, and the result of this pairing was again crossed with a pink UH507 to create this attractive blossom. It offers a long stem and is tolerant to both anthracnose and bacterial blight. It was unveiled to cooperating farmers back in '04 and it makes roughly six blooms each year. What's more, it has an outstanding vase life of forty four days.