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Species library › Anthurium › Anthurium watermaliense
Aroids Partly documented

Anthurium watermaliense

black anthurium

Anthurium watermaliense, the black anthurium, is a large-leaved species from wet forest in Costa Rica, Panama and Colombia, grown for its very dark purple, nearly black spathes. Most wild records are from warm, humid lowland and foothill forest, so it wants steady warmth, shade and high humidity. Many plants sold under this name are hybrids.

Anthurium watermaliense
Photo: Krzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
At home, aim for
Day Warm-growingTargets in Plantistry
Night Close to the dayTargets in Plantistry
Humidity Ordinary room humidityBand in Plantistry
Light ShadeDLI and PPFD in Plantistry
No rest periodGrows in the ground

Where it grows wild

Humid tropical forest understory, recorded in Costa Rica from the Caribbean lowlands (Cahuita, Puerto Viejo de Talamanca) up to Turrialba and Monteverde. It grows on the forest floor or low on trunks, with leaves up to about 60 by 40 cm.

Most records are between sea level and about 600 m, with a few from premontane sites such as Turrialba and Monteverde. A Colombian record at 2,650 m is far outside that and may be a misidentification.

Costa RicaPanamaColombia

🔒 Growing it like that

The wild conditions above, turned into targets for a shelf, a tent or a greenhouse. The full profile has:

✓ Day and night temperature targets, and the limits it tolerates
✓ Humidity band, and how to hold it
✓ Light as DLI and PPFD for a grow light
✓ Wet and dry seasons, and whether to rest it
✓ Substrate and airflow
✓ A step-by-step setup to grow it like the wild

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Profiles are drafts built from measured range and climate and from published sources; each section carries its own confidence in the app. Photo from Wikimedia Commons, used under its CC BY-SA 4.0 licence, unmodified.