Prayer plant (Maranta lietzei)
Description
Maranta is a genus of flowering plants native to tropical Central and South America and the West Indies. The Maranta genus of plants was named for Bartolomeo Maranta, an Italian physician and botanist of the sixteenth century. About 40-50 species are currently recognized by the scientific community, and they all have rhizomes arising naturally form perennial clumps. The leaves are crowded together, oval and evergreen. They are also flat by day and fold up into themselves as the day comes to an end. From this behavior comes the common name "prayer plant" - notably M. leuconeura. The flowers are small with three petals and two larger petal-like staminodes. Some species such as Maranta leuconeura (prayer plant) and Maranta arundinacea are grown as common houseplants, needing only a warm and stable environment. They can be propagated through cuttings (2 - 3 leaves) or by root division.
Taxonomic tree
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Domain: Eukarya
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Kingdom: Plantae
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Phylum:
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Class: Liliopsida
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Order: Zingiberales
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Family: Marantaceae
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Genus: Maranta
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