Abstract:
Anthurium is a popular tropical cut flower grown commercially both for export and local markets. Flower size plays a
vital role in deciding the price of the finished product. Corner's rule in plant form indicated that, leaf size and
inflorescence size are correlated. It is hypothesized that in Anthuriums, flowers and leaves that are produced
alternatively in a bush should possess the above traits and would beneficial for growers, in determining aspects of
floral display (inflorescence size) by observing allometry at the level of leaf size. This study mainly aimed to explore
the simple allometric relationships in Anthurium andraeanum variety "Tropical red" considering leaf and floral
morphological traits. Study was conducted in Kandy District, Sri Lanka. Relevant measurements were taken from ten
Anthurium growing farms. Ten plants were measured at each location and size related parameters of both leaves and
flowers were taken. Regression analysis was done using natural log in allometric analysis. Results showed significant
relationships among most parameters measured. Leaf area, leaf length, leaf width, lobe length and petiole length
showed significant positive correlations with pedicel length, spathe length and spathe width. However spadix length
of Anthurium did not show significant relationships with leaf parameters. Reproductive effort of plants was also
visible in tested Anthurium cultivar and without natural log values, graphs indicated, there should be a minim um leaf
length of 5 - 10 cm to initiate flowers. Therefore, relationships between allocation and allometry are obvious. In
conclusion, leaf sizes and flower sizes are allometically related traits (R2 - 0.7072) in Anthurium andraeanum variety
"Tropical red”.
