Anthurium crystallinum

This spectacular, medium-sized anthurium originates from the far south of Panama and northern and central Colombia. There, it grows only in mountainous regions at altitudes of 300 to 1300 meters, and surprisingly, mostly lithopytic on cliffs and in the crevices of larger rocks where leaves and detritus from trees accumulate. It sometimes grows terrestrially, but is rarely found as an epiphyte.

The stem is short, compact, and upright. The leaves are borne on round petioles up to 70 cm long and can grow to over 50 cm in length and about 40 cm in width. As a houseplant, *A. crystallinum* usually remains smaller, reaching "only" about 30 cm in size, which is still significantly larger than the similar *Anthurium clarinervium *. The upper surface is matte and velvety, and the leaves can have a very dark, almost black, base color when growing in low light; otherwise, they are lighter. The contrasting white, glittering veins are particularly striking. The leaves of *A. crystallinum* are never peltate. Young leaves are initially red, then orange, and only darken some time after they have reached their full size. As mentioned, the petioles are round or have only slight ridges. This characteristic allows *A. crystallinum* to be easily distinguished from *A. magnificum* and various *A. crystallinum* hybrids.



A. crystallinum, along with A. clarinervium , is one of the few velvet-leaved anthuriums which, with a little experience, is also well suited as a houseplant and does not necessarily have to be kept in a plant display case.