The Flower That Refuses to Wilt: Surprising Facts About Anthurium

Waxy, sculptural and a little bit strange, the anthurium is the stem that is still standing when the rest of the vase has gone. Here is what makes it so stubborn, and so good.

Most flowers are on a countdown from the moment they are cut. The anthurium seems not to have heard. Give it fresh water and a warm room and it will hold its shape and its shine for three weeks or more, long after everything around it has dropped its petals. It is one of the reasons we keep reaching for it in the studio, and one of the reasons it sits at the heart of two designs in our November collection. But longevity is only the start. Here are the things about anthurium that surprised us, and might surprise you.

01That glossy heart isn't actually a flower

The shiny, heart-shaped part everyone calls the flower is a spathe: a modified leaf whose job is to frame and protect the real thing. The actual flowers are tiny, and there are hundreds of them, packed in spirals along the slim spike in the centre, which botanists call the spadix. So when you buy a single anthurium stem, you are really buying a crowd.

02Its name means "tail flower"

Anthurium comes from the Greek anthos (flower) and oura (tail), a nod to that pointed spadix. It has collected plenty of nicknames along the way: flamingo flower, tailflower, laceleaf and painter's palette among them.

03It really does refuse to wilt

Three weeks in a vase is normal for a well cared-for anthurium, and growers report even longer. Part of the secret is that thick, waxy spathe, which holds on to moisture far better than a delicate petal. It means a bouquet built around anthurium changes slowly: softer stems fade first, and the anthuriums carry on. Our guide on how to keep flowers alive longer covers the basics, and anthuriums reward every one of them.

04It hates the fridge

The old trick of popping flowers in the fridge overnight will do an anthurium no favours. It is a tropical plant, and below roughly 13°C it can suffer chilling injury: brown or bluish patches appear on the spathe, a little like a banana left in the fridge. Keep it somewhere comfortably warm, away from air-conditioning vents and cold windowsills, and it will repay you.

When you buy a single anthurium stem, you are really buying a crowd.

05There are around a thousand kinds

Anthurium is the largest genus in the arum family, with roughly a thousand species and more still being described. They grow wild from Mexico down to northern Argentina and across the Caribbean, many of them clinging to trees in the rainforest rather than rooting in the ground. Plenty are grown for their leaves alone, some velvety and veined like fine fabric.

06One man's garden became an island industry

In 1889, Samuel Damon brought anthurium plants from London to Hawaii to grow on his family's estate. Cuttings passed from garden to garden, breeders got to work, and over the following century the anthurium became one of Hawaii's best-known flower exports. It is why you will still hear it called the Hawaiian heart.

07Florists read the spadix

The tiny flowers on the spadix open gradually, working their way along the spike, and the change in texture tells a florist how mature the stem is. The trade rule of thumb is to buy when around half the flowers are open: picked too early, the stem may struggle to drink. It is a small detail you can spot yourself once you know to look.

08Red came first, then everything else

The anthurium most of us picture, Anthurium andraeanum, comes from Colombia and Ecuador, and its natural spathes run red and pink. Generations of breeding have since added white, green, orange, purple and shades so deep they read almost black. Our Halo bouquet leans into the cool end, with white anthurium and Singapore orchids against dark foliage, while Supernova goes all in on glossy red anthurium and deep red hydrangea. If you love the clean look, our white flowers are worth a browse; if you prefer drama, start with red bouquets.

09It's a looker, not a snack

As a potted plant, anthurium can flower on and off for much of the year, which makes it one of the more generous indoor plants you can give. One caution: like other members of the arum family, it contains calcium oxalate crystals, and the sap can irritate skin and mouths. Keep it out of reach of curious pets, and see our note on plants that are toxic to pets if you share your home with a cat or dog.

10How to make yours last

Recut the stems on an angle when they arrive, use a clean vase with fresh water, and top it up every couple of days. Keep the vase somewhere warm and out of draughts, and never in the fridge. Because anthuriums keep their shape for so long, they are also easy to restyle: as the softer stems in a bouquet fade, pull the anthuriums out and give them a vase of their own. A single stem in a bud vase does a lot of work, and our ideas for styling flowers at home might give you a starting point.

White anthurium, Singapore orchids, wrapped in black.

Halo, from our After Dark collection, $125. See the Halo bouquet →

The best flowers are the ones that stay with you. Anthurium just takes that more literally than most. If you want to see how we've used it this season, the After Dark collection is where it is at its boldest.