Calathea louisae, green in all its forms

Botanical names are a bit like love stories in telenovelas. Sometimes it's hard to keep track. Take Calathea louisae, for example. This plant native to Brazil is also known as Goeppertia louisae, Calathea Maui Queen or Miso. Whatever you call it, your Calathea louisae will delight you with its many shades of green.

Calathea louisae is a bushy perennial. Larger than goeppertia roseopicta, it often reaches 80 centimetres in height.

Its shiny, elongated leaves measure up to 20 centimetres long and ten centimetres wide. The green leaf blades appear to have been drawn by a painter's brush. Light green in the center, they are crossed by darker lines and have dark margins. The underside is purple.

Calathea louisae is a praying plant. Every evening, at dusk, it erects and folds its leaves. This feat is achieved thanks to the pulvinus, an organ located at the base of the leaf blades. It is found in the Marantaceae, but also in mimosa pudica.

Flowering is very rare indoors. However, an inflorescence ten centimetres high may emerge from the heart of the plant. It bears spikes of white flowers.

Calathea louisae is not toxic. It presents no danger to humans or animals in the event of contact or ingestion.