Anthurium carlablackiae RA10

Anthurium carlablackiae ‘RA 10’ is one of the more distinctive plants from Rory Antolakii’s carlablackiae collection and is one of my personal favorites from the RA plants.

RA stands for Rory Antolakii, who collected and introduced a number of wild carlablackiae and other Anthurium into the US. I believe the carlablackiae are numbered RA 1 through RA 20, with some being wild-collected plants and others grown from seed that Rory collected in the wild.

What I like most about RA 10 are the incredibly round, almost jet black leaves with bright white veins. The contrast is really impressive and gives it a very different look compared to a lot of the other carlablackiae I grow.

One thing I don’t particularly like about RA 10 is that it can get a little leggy. The petioles tend to get quite a bit longer than what you see on some of the more traditional carlablackiae forms. That being said, the leaf shape, dark color and white veins more than make up for it.

RA 10 is probably best known as the pollen parent of the RA 5 × RA 10 cross, which in my opinion has produced some of the best carlablackiae in the hobby today.

Along with RA 4 and RA 16, RA 10 is one of my favorite plants from Rory’s carlablackiae collection.