About
Anthurium kunayalense is a compact panamanian understory plant notable for its highly textured subvelvet leaf blades and intricately ribbed/winged petioles. It is named for the region in which it was discovered which was formerly known as "Kuna Yala" but is now known as Guna Yala.
The most well known kunayalense clones are the RA (Rory Antolak) and PM (Paul Marecellini) clones. Jay Vannini also has some founder plants but there are not many in private collections.
Growing Conditions
Kunayalense enjoys conditions very similar to Anthurium dressleri and I treat them almost identically with consistent moisture, high humidity and low light. I grow all of my mature plants in pon with self watering pots and all of my seedlings semihydroponically in pure tree fern fiber. Kunayalense is more prone to edge yellowing/desiccation. Misting can help offset this edge yellowing and help the plants hold a greater number of perfect leaves but is not required for the plants to grow well and flower.
Hybridization/Breeding
Why kunayalense
Kunayalense lends several interesting traits to its hybrids. The unique leaf texture tends to pass on fairly consistently and results in a very pleasing effect particularly when combined with a velvet counterpart. The dark emergent color and pink venation on the emergent leaves of nicer individuals also seems to come through fairly consistently. Beyond the appearance of the leaf blade, kunayalense also possesses one of the more interesting petioles with more pronounced ridging/winging than dressleri and carlablackiae and often pronounced ruffling on the geniculum both of which are small details that I very much appreciate. The compact growth habit is also a plus particularly for indoor growers with limited space.
What I'm selecting for
For me the perfect kunayalense is round and has a more undulated texture rather than the somewhat finer texturing that some of them exhibit. I prefer darker emergents in general, but some small number of my seed grown ones show a vibrant pink emergent that I also enjoy. Pink veins is also a very desirable trait to me and I have noticed a good deal of variability in both the intensity and the duration of pink on the veins ranging from nearly none at all to some persistence after hardening as the next leaf emerges with the latter obviously being more desirable. The best kuna also possess a bluish or blue/gray undertone on the hardened leaves which is also quite desirable.