Maranta leuconeura

Prayer plant
Foliage and flowers of Maranta leuconeura var. kerchoveana
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Monocots
Clade:	Commelinids
Order:	Zingiberales
Family:	Marantaceae
Genus:	Maranta
Species:	M. leuconeura
Binomial name
Maranta leuconeura E.Morren
Synonyms[1]
Calathea leuconeura (E.Morren) G.Nicholson Maranta massangeana E.Morren Calathea kerchoveana (E.Morren) André Maranta kerchoveana E.Morren Maranta kerchovei Van Geert Maranta leuconeura var. kerchoveana E.Morren Maranta leuconeura var. massangeana (E.Morren) Planch Calathea massangeana (E.Morren) G.Nicholson Maranta massangeana atrata G.Nicholson Maranta massangeana florentina G.Nicholson Maranta massangeana metallica G.Nicholson Maranta leuconeura var. erythroneura G.S.Bunting

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.^[1] 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 closely related to such groups as Alpinia, Ensete, Canna, Curcuma, Heliconia, Musa and Zingiber.