Maranta leuconeura, widely known as the prayer plant due to its daily sunlight-dependent movements (which are said to resemble hands "in-prayer"), is a species of flowering plant in the family Marantaceae native to the Brazilian tropical forests. It is a variable, rhizomatous perennial, growing to 30 cm (12 in) tall and broad, with crowded clumps of evergreen, strikingly-marked oval leaves, each up to 12 cm (5 in) long. The plant spreads itself horizontally, carpeting an entire small area of forest floor, sending roots into the substrate at each leaf node.
Maranta, in-addition to fellow "prayer-plant" genera (like Calathea, Ctenanthe, Goeppertia and Stromanthe), is related to such groups as Alpinia, Ensete, Canna, Curcuma, Heliconia, Musa and Zingiber.
Description
The specific epithet leuconeura means "white-veined", referring to the leaves. The leaves have a habit of lying flat during the day, and folding in an erect position at night as if in prayer for evening vespers, hence the common name "prayer plant". This behaviour is an example of a diurnal rhythm.
Small, white to purple flowers appear during the growing season, although this is not always observed in houseplants and the flowers may not be considered significant in comparison to the attractive foliage. The broad leaves of the plant are oval, two-color, greenish and fairly shiny. There are patches on both sides of the leaf medium, the color of which varies depending on the variety. The patches may be light green, green, brownish or dark gray. Medium color also varies by variety. The undersides of the leaves are variable, ranging from a light green, common in M. leuconeura var. kerchoveana, to a deep red, common in M. leuconeura var. erythroneura. Roots are shallow.
Flowers, although small, are interesting in that they have a trigger mechanism, closing the entrance to the flower quickly with a curling appendage, which both deposits and collects pollen in one motion, and only triggers once per...
