Anthurium warocqueanum × waterburyanum

Background of the horticultural cross

This is a cultivated cross between the Colombian species Anthurium warocqueanum and material grown as A. waterburyanum. The name A. waterburyanum was formally published in 2025, but the plant’s exact botanical status remains unresolved.

Seedlings from the cross can vary in their individual combination of parental traits.

Caring for Anthurium warocqueanum × A. waterburyanum

• Leave a clear route below the crown: Use a stable raised pot and keep opening leaves away from walls, other plants and hard edges.
• Provide bright indirect light: Diffuse overhead light supports strong growth without scorching the semi-velvet surface.
• Keep watering consistent: Wait until the top of the open mix is partly dry, then water evenly through the pot and allow free drainage. Avoid alternating severe dryness with a saturated pot.
• Use humid moving air: Stable humidity helps the opening leaf, and gentle circulation clears moisture from the sinus and veins. Repot in fine bark, coco chips, coir and pumice when active roots fill the pot.

Problems to check on the hybrid

• A later leaf is broader or narrower than the one before it: Seedling variation and maturation can both change the proportions. Compare several later, fully hardened leaves before judging the plant. No correction is needed while the tissue remains firm, the roots are healthy and growth continues normally.
• The opening blade develops scratches and black specks: Inspect the fold and underside for thrips. If you confirm them, isolate the plant and apply a treatment labelled for thrips to the folded growth, leaf undersides and petiole bases. Repeat it at the intervals stated on the label for the full course.
• Tan marks appear on the window-facing side: Filter direct sun and reduce heat near the glass. Existing marks remain, but later foliage can develop normally in the corrected position.

Anthurium warocqueanum × waterburyanum is toxic to people and pets

• Keep this plant away from children, cats and dogs.
• Its leaves and stems contain insoluble calcium oxalate crystals, which can irritate the mouth, throat, skin and eyes.
• Chewing may cause burning pain, drooling, swelling, vomiting or difficulty swallowing. Contact a veterinarian or medical professional after exposure, especially if swelling or breathing problems occur.

The meaning and history of the names Anthurium warocqueanum and Anthurium waterburyanum

The genus name Anthurium combines Greek anthos, “flower”, and oura, “tail”, referring to the tail-like spadix. Warocqueanum honours the Belgian plant grower Arthur Warocqué. The epithet waterburyanum honours Bette Waterbury.

Heinrich Wilhelm Schott established the genus Anthurium in 1829 in Wiener Zeitschrift für Kunst, Literatur, Theater und Mode, volume 3, page 828.

Thomas Moore first described Anthurium warocqueanum in 1878 in The Florist and Pomologist, volume 1878, page 101.

Thomas Bernard Croat and David Scherberich first described Anthurium waterburyanum in 2025 in Aroideana 48(3): 255.