Anthurium 'Hot Barbie' (Katja)

Anthurium 'Hot Barbie' (also traded under its originating clone name 'Katja') is one of the most talked-about hybrid Anthuriums to emerge from the pink-variegation breeding scene, prized for foliage that opens in a genuinely saturated hot-pink flush rather than the pale blush seen on most pink-variegated aroids. New leaves emerge almost solid magenta-pink before settling into a mottled pink-and-green mature pattern, with colour intensity varying noticeably between specimens and even between leaves on the same plant depending on light. It shares the compact, upright rosette habit typical of modern hybrid Anthurium breeding lines, and its pink variegation is unstable in tissue culture. Asking prices for rooted offsets have run into the thousands of pounds, making it one of the most expensive Anthuriums currently in circulation.

Native range

Hybrid selection originating from the clone known as 'Katja'; maintained in collector cultivation

Classification

Genus

Anthurium

Family

Araceae

Type

Hybrid

Growth habit

Compact upright rosette

Morphology

Leaf shape

CordateHeart-shaped foliage, featuring a rounded notch (sinus) where the leaf stem attaches.

Leaf length

15-25 cm

Leaf width

12-20 cm

Petiole colour

Pink-flushed green

Venation

Pale, subtle against pink tissue

Texture

Semi-glossy to velvety

Variegation

Saturated hot-pink chimericVariegation caused by a cell mutation. Often produces high contrast but can be unstable and revert to all-green. variegation, settling into a mottled pink-and-green mature pattern

Growth habit

Compact upright rosette