Species · genus Goeppertia · Marantaceae

Calathea Warscewiczii

Goeppertia warszewiczii (Lem.) Borchs. & S.Suárez

Also known as: Jungle Velvet · Jungle Velvet Calathea · Velvet Calathea

Growth habit

perennial

Native range

Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panamá

Reference · G. warszewiczii

Cultivars of G. warszewiczii

The named forms growers keep — each with its own page, each honest about how much we know.

No named cultivars catalogued under G. warszewiczii yet. When growers document a stable, named form, it earns its own page here.

Guide

The species-level account. Cultivar pages build on this and say where they differ.

A tropical understory perennial of the Marantaceae from the humid forests of Central America, accustomed to dappled light, warmth, and consistently moist (never soggy) soil. Give it bright indirect light out of direct sun, and water when the top inch of mix begins to dry — it dislikes both drying out fully and sitting wet. It genuinely wants high humidity, so it will show crisping leaf edges in dry indoor air.

Care recipe

The species record — the baseline every cultivar inherits unless it says otherwise.

Care notes are early — not yet verified

Light: ai:claude-opus-4-8
Water: ai:claude-opus-4-8 (range 5-9d)
Humidity: ai:claude-opus-4-8
Soil: ai:claude-fable-5
Care: ai:claude-fable-5

Light

Bright, indirect

Water

≈ every 9 days

Humidity

High

Temperature

18–27 °C

Soil mix

Airy, moisture-retentive mix of peat/coir with perlite

Propagation

Division of the rootball at repotting

Fertilizing

Diluted balanced feed monthly through the growing season

Growth rate

Moderate

Flowering

Can produce white-and-pink flower spikes indoors in good conditions

ToxicityAuthoritative · species

Non-toxic to cats & dogs

Prayer-plant family (Marantaceae). ASPCA lists Calathea insignis (= Goeppertia insignis) non-toxic; the genus is uniformly safe. This is where toxicity lives: every cultivar of this species inherits it and none can override it.

Reference images

Every image credited. Licenses link to their deeds.

No reference gallery yet

A few clear photos — habit, a mature leaf, a flower if it blooms — would give this page its eyes.

Add images

Sources: ai:claude-opus-4-8 · ai:claude-opus-4-8 (range 5-9d) · ai:claude-fable-5 · ASPCA

Kept true by its growers

Every fact here carries its source. Grow Calathea Warscewiczii yourself? What you’ve observed — how it drinks, how it holds its color, a name that’s off — is exactly what keeps this page honest. Contributions are reviewed before anything changes.