Species · genus Maranta · Marantaceae

Prayer Plant

Maranta leuconeura É.Morren

Also known as: Prayerplant · Ten-commandments

Growth habit

subshrub

Native range

Brazil Northeast, Brazil Southeast, Brazil West-Central

Reference · M. leuconeura

Cultivars of M. leuconeura

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

No named cultivars catalogued under M. leuconeura 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.

Maranta leuconeura is a low, spreading subshrub from the humid forest floors of Brazil, where it grows in dappled shade beneath the canopy. Give it bright indirect light away from direct sun, which scorches the patterned leaves, and keep the mix evenly but lightly moist — water when the top inch of mix has dried, roughly every 4 to 9 days. As a tropical understory plant it wants warmth and elevated humidity; dry household air shows as browning, crisping leaf edges.

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 4-9d)
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

16–27 °C

Soil mix

Rich, moisture-retentive mix with peat and perlite

Propagation

Division of the clump at repotting

Fertilizing

Balanced liquid feed monthly in the growing season

Growth rate

Moderate

Flowering

Inconspicuous; prized for its patterned, night-folding leaves

ToxicityAuthoritative · species

Not yet documented

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 4-9d) · ai:claude-fable-5

Kept true by its growers

Every fact here carries its source. Grow Prayer Plant 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.