The World Foliage Plant Industry - Acta Horticulturae

Figure 7. Stock plant and cutting production in Central America: (A) Dieffenbachia production
in Honduras and (B) Sansevieria trifasciata divisions arriving in the U.S. from Costa Rica.
liners, with seeds used for just a few selected
genera. Currently, there are four main regions
of foliage plant propagule production: Asia,
Central and South America, the European
Union (E.U.), and the U.S.
Asia is a region predominately providing massive
numbers of tissue culture plantlets (Fig. 6).
Dongguan Agristar Biotechnoloy Co., Ltd.,
Guangdong Province, China, produces 20 million
tissue culture plantlets of foliage plants,
including Aglaonema, Alocasia, Anthurium,
Calathea, Cordyline, Dieffenbachia, Dracaena,
Ficus, and Syngonium as well as various
Bromeliads, ferns, and Musa species. Almost all
these plantlets are exported to Australia, E.U.,
and Southeast Asia. Sunshine Horticulture LLC.,
Quanzhou, Fujian Province, China exports 68%
of its tissue culture plantlets of Anthurium,
Alocasia, Ficus, Spathiphyllum, and bare rooted
‘Lucky Bamboo’ (Dracaena sanderiana) and
‘Money Tree’ (Pachira macrocarpa) to the U.S.
Other countries involved in tissue culture plantlet
production include India, Singapore, Sri
Lanka, and Thailand. Commercial tissue culture
firms in India export more than 40 million tissue
culture plantlets to the U.S. and other countries
(Govil and Gupta, 1997).
Many foliage plant species are native to Central
and South America, and commercial nurseries
are mainly located in Brazil, Colombia, Costa
Rica, Guatemala, and Honduras. Climatic conditions
are favorable for extensive stock bed
plantings to produce vast numbers of
Aglaonema, Codiaeum, Cordyline, Dieffenbachia,
Epipremnum, Dracaena, Peperomia,
Philodendron, Sansevieria, and Schefflera cuttings
which are exported to the U.S., E.U., and
several Asian countries (Fig. 7). According to
the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, the
wholesale value of unrooted foliage plant cuttings
imported from Central and South America
to the U.S. was $29 million in 2002.
Although there are few foliage plants native to
Europe, the collections made during 17th to
19th centuries provided diverse germplasm for
propagation and production. The Netherlands
emerged as the predominant European country
for foliage plant propagation during the 20th
century. For example, Anthura B.V. in Bleiswijk
has developed an extensive breeding program
and uses modern facilities for Anthurium,
Bromeliad, and Palaenopsis propagation.
Uniform and healthy propagative materials are
exported to other European countries, China,
Japan, Australia, and the U.S. Several nurseries
in the Netherlands produce hybrid seeds of
Spathiphyllum cultivars sold to other European
countries and the U.S.
In the continental U.S., large nurseries in
California and Texas produce numerous foliage
plant propagules, but the greatest numbers are
produced in Central Florida, primarily in the vicinity
of Apopka, Florida, often considered the
indoor foliage capital of the world (Fig. 8).
There are more than 900 certified nurseries,
largely for foliage plants, clustered in Apopka
vicinity. Agri-Starts, Inc. and Twyford Plant
Laboratories, Inc., in the Apopka area, and
Oglesby Plant International, Inc., in Altha,
Florida, have an annual production capacity of
more than 50 million tissue culture liners of
various foliage plants including Alocasia,
Anthurium, Calathea, Dieffenbachia, Ficus,
Musa, Philodendron, Syngonium, Spathiphyllum,
and different species of ferns and
Bromeliads. In addition to meeting the needs of
foliage plant producers in Florida and other states,
tissue culture liners are also exported to
Canada, E.U., and Asian countries. Hawaii with
its tropical climate produces propagative materials
of Anthurium, orchids, and Dracaena cuttings
and sells to the U.S. mainland, Japan, and
E.U. markets.
FOLIAGE PLANT
PRODUCTION
The E.U.
Commercial production of foliage plants started
in Europe and was based on the extensive collection
of foliage plants made during the 17th
to 19th centuries. The availability of foliage
plants capable of surviving extended periods
indoors promoted the widespread use of living
plants for interior decoration. The demand for
plants provided the stimulus for construction of
commercial greenhouses to supply this burgeoning
market. As production output increased,
additional markets were sought and large shipments
of foliage plants were sent to the U.S. in
Figure 8. Indoor foliage capital of the world, Apopka, Florida: (A) city of Apopka slogan and (B) fern statue commemorating Boston Fern
(Nephrolepis exaltata) that started foliage plant production in Apopka, Florida.
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