Anthurium aff regale x carlablackiae "Tropicarla"

Anthurium aff regale x carlablackiae "Tropicarla"

The seed parent is a plant I keep calling regale even though I have no real confidence in that name - probably an undescribed species, if I'm honest. What I do know: it grows huge, and the flower smells like grape soda, which is more than most tags can promise.

The pollen parent has a story I'm still a little sore about. I bought it off an Ecuadorian nursery table at the tail end of a plant show, sold to me as seed grown. Got it home, took a real look, and found it divided at the stem - so much for that. I don't have enough to call it wild collected either, but I stay suspicious. I've got a handful of flowering-size carlablackiae in the greenhouse now and I try to keep them straight in my head. This one got its name during a Tampa Bay Rays broadcast, of all things, when the announcer said Tropicana Field one too many times and something clicked. Tropicarla. I actually shouted eureka. Alone. In the greenhouse. Possibly my best name yet, for what that's worth.

The seedling itself is a much more coherent statement than anything I just wrote. Enjoy it, and whatever it goes on to make.