MARANTHACEAE

The plants usually have underground rhizomes or tubers. The leaves are arranged in two rows with the petioles having a sheathing base. The leaf blade is narrow or broad with pinnate veins running parallel to the midrib. The petiole may be winged, and swollen into a pulvinus at the base. The inflorescence is a spike or panicle, enclosed by spathe-like bracts.

Marantaceae, the prayer plant family of the ginger order (Zingiberales), composed of about 31 genera and 550 species of rhizomatous perennial herbs that are native to moist or swampy tropical forests, particularly in the Americas but also in Africa and Asia. Members of the Marantaceae vary from plants with slender, reedlike stalks to leafy spreading herbs to dense bushes nearly 2 m (about 6.5 feet) high.

The smooth white rhizomes (underground stems) of some species, such as Maranta arundinacea, furnish the starch known as arrowroot. Other members of the family are popular ornamentals, such as the prayer plant (M. leuconeura kerchoveana), the water canna (Thalia dealbata), and species of the genus Calathea. The leaves of some species are used in basket weaving. Calathea species produce wax, and some have edible flowers and tubers.

Some examples of Plants from Maranthaceae are:

• Calathea sp
• Stromanthe sanguinea