Anthurium [(papillilaminum "Gatorskin" x aff besseae) x papillilaminum 8x5] x ("Michelle" x "Zara")

[(papillilaminum "Gatorskin" x aff besseae) x papillilaminum 8x5] x ("Michelle" x "Zara")

The seed parent is one of mine from a few years back, one of only two I kept from that batch - the rest went out wide at the IAS Expo in 2024, so holler if you're out there holding one. It's mostly a pap through and through, with the aff besseae only sneaking in through some very subtle veining, like it showed up to the party and then spent the whole night in the corner.

The pollen parent is the more interesting story. "Michelle" x "Zara" is the inverse of one of Dr. Block's more widely traded early mass-releases, and I found it at a roadside nursery off Krome Ave in Miami, summer 2023, wedged in among the orchids and platyceriums like nobody wanted it. It still had the old 'Nurturing Nature' tag on it, QR code and all, long since defunct - not the slick colorized branding you see on everything now. A cast-off from the generic Doc Block era of the mid-COVID plant craze, and yet the plant itself is stunning: deep red-pink emergents and gorgeous veining, which makes sense once you know both the seed and pollen parents behind it trace back to a likely selfing of Tim Anderson's 'Wonder Boy'. Sometimes the discount bin has secrets in it.