More ‘leaf art’ by rhoing

More ‘leaf art’

I visited the greenhouse today, but only briefly, and I’m not really pleased with any of the shots today. But this is the best of the mediocre and I will have to find out what kind of plant this is. It does have beautiful leaves, though, doesn’t it? (Yeah, even if this is mostly out-of-focus.)

Edit Thank you again, Rich! The plant is a “prayer plant” (Maranta leuconeura), so called because the leaves stand up and roll up at night. It is an herbaceous perennial of the family Marantaceae and native to Brazil.

According to the Missouri Botanical Garden page, it “rarely flowers indoors,” but with leaves like this, who needs flowers, right? See http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/gardens-gardening/your-garden/plant-finder/plant-details/kc/b604/maranta-leuconeura.aspx

The plant family takes its name from Bartolomeo Maranta, also Bartholomaeus Marantha, a 16th-century (died 1571) Italian physician, botanist, and literary theorist.

Species page at PhytoImages, http://phytoimages.siu.edu/cgi-bin/dol/dol_terminal.pl?taxon_name=Maranta_leuconeura&rank=binomial

Photo taken at the SIUC Plant Biology Greenhouse, http://www.plantbiology.siu.edu/facilities/plant-biology-facilities/greenhouse/index.php

One year ago (“Sphere”): http://365project.org/rhoing/365/2012-01-14
Two years ago (“Just another sunrise? Maybe, but…”): http://365project.org/rhoing/365/2011-01-14
Love the pink veins and the light green running down the middle. Pretty plant for sure!
January 16th, 2013  
Is it a caladium? There are so many varieties.
January 16th, 2013  
Beautiful!
January 16th, 2013  
@tara11 Thanks, Tara. More information acquired today!

@danette Not caladium, but Maranta. This specimen does not have the same distinctive leaf-shape that caladium has.

@xtech Thanks, Elaine!
January 17th, 2013  
Amazing details.
January 17th, 2013  
@digitalrn Ah, but the reason I'm unhappy with this shot is that it's not in focus. Very frustrating. I think you'll see this kind of leaf again sometime with a sharper image...!
January 17th, 2013  
@rhoing I have the same trouble, and it is frustrating, but you are stil able to see the lifeline of the leaf, the veins.
January 18th, 2013  
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