Parlor palms have a long history as houseplants – and not without reason.These plants add lush green foliage to our households, can ada
12.06.2023 - 01:05 / gardenerspath.com / Kristina HicksHamblin
Worth Its Stripes: How to Grow and Care for Calathea Zebrina Plants Goeppertia zebrina (akaCalathea zebrina)You may have heard that zebra calathea is a slightly fussy plant to grow. I’d like to convince you that the care involved is well worth it.
All it takes really is learning what this tropical species needs so you can successfully meet its requirements.
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That’s what we’ll discuss in this article – how to grow and care for this houseplant, from A to… well, Zebrina!
Here’s what I’ll cover:
Cultivation and HistoryZebra calathea is a type of prayer plant, an evergreen herbaceous perennial grown for its striking, stripey green foliage.
This tropical species has large elliptical leaves which grow to be 18 inches long or more. These leaves have smooth margins and are held singly on long stems.
The top sides of the leaves have a matte, velvety texture and are pale green with a pale green midrib, and wide, dark green stripes that are forked at the leaf margins.
The undersides of the leaves are light green or sometimes purple.
Another characteristic of zebrina, and other prayer plants, is that new leaves emerge rolled up and slowly unfurl.
This species has a fountain-like and spreading growth habit, growing to be up to three feet tall with a three-foot spread.
Although specimens kept as houseplants rarely flower, zebrina produces large, low-growing inflorescences with white and purple flowers.
One of the fun parts of keeping prayer plants like zebrina and its relatives red veined maranta and peacock plant is that they exhibit a fascinating behavior called “nyctinastic movement.”
These species move their leaves in reaction to
Parlor palms have a long history as houseplants – and not without reason.These plants add lush green foliage to our households, can ada
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