Anthurium (; Schott, 1829), is a genus of about 1000 species of flowering plants, the largest genus of the arum family, Araceae. General common names include anthurium, tailflower, flamingo flower, and laceleaf.The genus is native to the Americas, where it is distributed from northern Mexico to northern Argentina and parts of the Caribbean. Like most houseplants, Anthurium has been shown to help remove formaldehyde, xylene, and ammonia from household air. It was one of the plants cited as such in the NASA Clean Air Study.
Description and biology
Anthurium is a genus of herbs often growing as epiphytes on other plants. Some are terrestrial. The leaves are often clustered and are variable in shape. The inflorescence bears small flowers which are perfect, containing male and female structures. The flowers are contained in dense spirals on the spadix. The spadix is often elongated into a spike shape, but it can be globe -shaped or club-shaped. Beneath the spadix is the spathe, a type of bract.
