Anthurium 'Ace of Spades'

'Ace of Spades' is a horticultural selection bred specifically for its foliage colour: deep, velvety, near-black leaves, broad and spade-shaped with an elongated apex and pale venation that reads as sharp contrast against the almost luminous dark blade. New growth emerges noticeably lighter before hardening to the lustrous near-black finish the cultivar is named for. Compact, with a short basal crown. The market in loosely labelled 'ace of spades' plants is murky enough that provenance is worth checking before paying a premium.

Native range

Horticultural cultivar; derived from tropical Anthurium ancestry

Classification

Genus

Anthurium

Family

Araceae

Type

Cultivar

Growth habit

Compact, self-heading

Morphology

Leaf shape

CordateHeart-shaped foliage, featuring a rounded notch (sinus) where the leaf stem attaches. to ovateEgg-shaped leaves, with the wider end near the base.-cordateHeart-shaped foliage, featuring a rounded notch (sinus) where the leaf stem attaches., spade-shaped with elongated apex

Leaf length

25-50 cm

Leaf width

18-35 cm

Petiole colour

Dark greenish-maroon

Venation

Pale to silvery-white venation on near-black blade

Texture

Velvety

Variegation

None

Growth habit

Compact basal rosette, short internodes