Kochi, Sep. 10 : A five-day international Anthurium flower show held here recently drew several flower lovers.

Organized by National Horticultural Board and the Kerala department of Agriculture, its objective was to promote the exotic flower''s cultivation for commercial purposes.

Anthurium, one of the most beautiful and exotic flowers mainly used for decoration purposes, attracted huge attention by its elaborate decorations made by experts here.

Over 20,000 Anthuriums, said to be the ''queen of all tropical flowers'', were exhibited in the show, of which 12,000 flowers were imported from various countries. The others collected from different states in India.

The event also emerged as a rendezvous for many Anthurium lovers, enthusiasts, growers and companies.

D Radhakrishnan, General Secretary, Exclusive International Anthurium Show, said: “The sole aim of this show is to promote, develop and bring more people to take up this cultivation commercially, which has a good business potential not only in the domestic, but also in the international market.

Organisers said that climate in Kerala is best suited for growing Anthurium, but the flower is no popular here.

Apart from foreign representative companies from Mauritius, Holland and Italy the Indian companies participating in the show included the Coorg Floriculture Association and South Indian Floriculture Association.

A member of the Kodagu growers association, President of the Coorg Floriculture Association, A. R. Shivaprasad said: “Though its cultivation is bit expensive but he returns per hectare is estimated as 500,000 rupees per annum and there is a lot of demand in India itself. We are not able to cope up to meet exports demand of Anthurium.

For the city dwellers it was a delight visiting the venue and learning more of this unique flower.

The flower, if cultivated as a commercial crop for export and the domestic market, will create employment opportunities, apart from developing an agri-business.

Indian flowers like roses, carnations, orchids, gladioli and anthurium are being well received in Japan, Netherlands, USA, Germany and France. Besides flowers, India also exports seeds, bulbs, dried flowers, ferns, leaves and grass.

Anthurium grows in many forms, mostly evergreen, bushy or climbing epiphytes with roots that can hang from the canopy all the way to the floor of the rain forest.

Anthurium flowers are small (about 3 mm) and develop crowded in a spike on a fleshy axis, called a spadix, a characteristic of the Araceae. The flowers on the spadix are often divided sexually with a sterile band-separating male from female flowers. This spadix can take on many forms (club-shaped, tapered, spiraled, and globe-shaped) and colors (white, green, purple, red, pink, or a combination). (ANI)