About Marantaceae
Marantaceae is a family of monocots in the order Zingiberales, comprising about 30 genera and roughly 530 to 550 species. It occurs throughout the tropics, with about 80% of species in tropical America and the rest in lowland tropical Africa and Asia. Its members are rhizomatous perennials whose leaves have a pulvinus (a swollen joint at the base of the blade) that moves the leaf, so in many species the leaves rise and fold at night. In cultivation it is known for foliage plants with patterned leaves, such as Maranta, Goeppertia, Calathea, Ctenanthe and Stromanthe, and Maranta arundinacea is grown as the source of arrowroot starch.
Goeppertia is the largest genus in the family Marantaceae, with about 250 species. It ranges through the American tropics from Mexico and the Caribbean to Argentina and Paraguay. Described by Nees in 1831, it was reinstated in 2012 when a molecular phylogeny by Borchsenius and colleagues showed Calathea to be made up of unrelated lineages, and most species formerly placed in Calathea were transferred to it. Its flowers have one staminode (sterile stamen) and a three-chambered ovary, which separates it from Maranta. Species such as Goeppertia orbifolia and Goeppertia zebrina are grown as foliage plants.
Maranta is a genus in the family Marantaceae with about 40 to 50 species. It is native to tropical Central and South America and the West Indies. Its species are clump-forming rhizomatous perennials with oval evergreen leaves that lie flat by day and fold upward toward evening, which gives them the name prayer plant. The flowers have two staminodes (sterile stamens) and a one-chambered ovary, which separates Maranta from Calathea and Goeppertia with one staminode and a three-chambered ovary. Maranta leuconeura is grown as a foliage plant, and Maranta arundinacea is cultivated for arrowroot starch.
Scientific Name
Marantaceae