Rattlesnake plant (Goeppertia lancifolia)

Rattlesnake plant or Goepertia insignis or Maranta insignis or Calathea lancifolia (Goeppertia lancifolia) is a species of plant in the Marantaceae, an evergreen herbaceous, erect, growing to a height of 60-75 cm and is often used as an ornamental plant for the beauty of its leaves.

G. lancifolia has cylindrical and green leaf stalks. Leaves are elongated, slender, thick, up to 45 cm long, tips may be pointed or blunt, margins flat and a vein in the middle.

The upper side is green and marked by short sideways and dark stripes. The underside is pale green or purple with lateral fibers.

Rattlesnake plants grow on forest floors, shady places, waterways, farmland, roadsides and abandoned places. Often used as an ornamental plant for the beauty of the leaves.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Liliopsida
Order: Zingiberales
Family: Marantaceae
Genus: Goeppertia
Species: Goeppertia lancifolia

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