Greek calathea – basket, referring to the form of the foliage around the flower.
Clump-forming herbs. Leaves mostly basal, often variegated. Flower clusters in heads or spikes with spiralling bracts or in narrow spikes with distichous bracts. Flowers irregular. Sepals and petals 3. Outer sterile stamen 1, larger than the petals. Ovary 3-chambered, each chamber with 1 ovule. Fruit a 3-seeded capsule.
Highly ornamental indoor foliage plants. C. bella (Bull) Regel and C. burlemarxii H. Kennedy are also sometimes listed.
Division, tubers and cuttings.
Several species have edible tubers, others have edible buds and young shoots; leaves of some species are used in basketry.
Flower clusters in heads or dense spikes; ovary with 3 chambers and 3 ovules.
About 300 species from tropical America.
Kennedy (1978).
Source: (2005). Marantaceae. In: . Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 5. Flowering plants. Monocotyledons. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.
