An anthurium developed the College of Tropical Agriculture at the University of Hawaii at Manoa won a red ribbon in a national competition put on by the Society of American Florists, according to a university news release.

The “;Mauna Loa”; anthurium won the ribbon in the “;other cut flowers”; category of the 2008 Outstanding Varieties Competition.

The obake or multicolored anthurium has a medium to large spathe and is often over 10 inches long with a white center and green perimeter. Its stem has an average length of 26 inches. “;Mauna Loa”; can potentially yield about six flowers per stem per year, which is considered high for a white obake. Other attributes include resistance to disease and ease of micropropagation.

“;Mauna Loa”; was developed by the team of Heidi Kuehnle, Haruyuki Kamemoto, Tessie Amore, John Kunisaki, Joanne Lichty and Janice Uchida. It originated in 1987 from “;Tropic Ice,”; a small white obake previously released by the college.

Kamemoto is credited for establishing UH's anthurium research program in 1950 to develop disease-resistant and novel anthuriums for the flower industry. The program has released more than 40 new commercial varieties since 1963.

Six UH anthurium varieties have now received ribbons since 2004. Receiving Blue Ribbons were “;Tropic Sunrise”; (2007) and “;Lavender Lady”; (2004). Other UH varieties receiving ribbons in recent years are “;Tropic Fire”; (Red Ribbon, 2004), “;Kalapana”; (Red Ribbon, 2005), and “;Hokuloa”; (Red Ribbon, 2007).