Greek kteis – comb, anthos – flower; referring to the form of the bracts.
Perennial herbs. Leaves often with long, thin stalks, the ones on the flowering shoots short. Flower clusters in terminal spikes or racemes with closely overlapping persistent bracts. Flowers usually on 1 side of the cluster, the tube very short, from half to equal the length of the lobes. Outer sterile stamens 2, petal-like. Ovary with 1 chamber and 1 ovule.
Highly ornamental indoor foliage plants.
Division and cuttings.
Flower tube short and wide; ovary with 1 chamber.
10 species from the humid American tropics but most species from south-eastern Brazil.
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.
