Anthurium Black Magic from Jay Vannini is truly convincing, like few other Luxurians hybrids, with oily blue to deep black colors, which often only truly emerge after several mature leaves.
Luxurians as a seed parent or "mother" in hybrids is not only dominant in the phenotypic expression of the offspring but also usually absolutely overwhelming. In our opinion, the pollen parent plays a lesser role, at least in the F1 generation. The leaf texture, color, and vein structure are so Luxurians-heavy that one often has to wonder if it's even a hybrid at all.
With Black Magic, the pollen parent, i.e., A. dressleri, somehow manages to impart an even deeper blackness and at least a slightly red sinus to the offspring.
Of course, this isn't just any A. dressleri, but the old and well-known wild collection and mother of many JV hybrids, A. dressleri 'RG'. A good match for A. luxurians.
Despite the rather uniform appearance of Black Magic, we must conclude that there is a lot of potential here.
It becomes interesting when selecting a partner for the offspring of Black Magic. The F1, like the mother Luxurians, is not velvety but smooth. What happens if you take a selection of the F1 and backcross it with the father? JV probably thought the same and skillfully created A. 'Hobgoblin', which is A. 'Black Magic' x dressleri 'RG', a so-called backcross.
Suddenly, the offspring are velvety again, yet little of the Luxurians' structure has been lost, and what remains is the deep black, oily color of the F1.
Luxurians hybrids are indeed interesting, but only truly so when one continues breeding with them.
Leave a comment
This site is protected by hCaptcha and the hCaptcha Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.