Marantaceae | |
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Maranta leuconeura | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Monocots |
Clade: | Commelinids |
Order: | Zingiberales |
Family: | Marantaceae R.Br. [1] |
Type genus | |
Maranta | |
Genera | |
See text |
The Marantaceae are a family, the arrowroot family, of flowering plants consisting of 31 genera and around 530 species, defining it as one of the most species-rich families in its order. [2] [3] Species of this family are found in lowland tropical forests of Africa, Asia, and the Americas. The majority (80%) of the species are found in the American tropics, followed by Asian (11%) and African (9%) tropics. [2] They are commonly called the prayer-plant family and are also known for their unique secondary pollination presentation.
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.[ citation needed ]
The inflorescence is a spike or panicle, enclosed by spathe-like bracts. The flowers are small and often inconspicuous, irregular, and bisexual, usually with an outer three free sepals and an inner series of three petaloid-like segments, tube-like in appearance. The fruit is either fleshy or a loculicidal capsule. [4]
The APG II system, of 2003 (unchanged from the APG system, 1998), also recognizes this family, and assigns it to the order Zingiberales in the clade commelinids in the monocots. The Marantaceae are considered the most derived family in this group due to the extreme reduction in both stamens and carpels.[ citation needed ]
The family consists of 29 genera with about 570 known species, [5] found in the tropical areas of the world except in Australia. The biggest concentration is in the Americas, with seven genera in Africa, and six in Asia.
Cladogram: Phylogeny of Zingiberales [6] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Phylogenetic tree of the family. [7]
Marantaceae |
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Arilated seeds of Marantaceae are dispersed mainly by birds and mammals. In Amazonia, crickets and ants are important secondary dispersers. [8]
Rosmarinic acid can be found in plants in the family Marantaceae such as species in the genera Maranta ( Maranta leuconeura , Maranta depressa ) and Thalia ( Thalia geniculata ). [9]
Marantaceae have a distinctive pollination mechanism that is defined by an explosive style movement. It is commonly termed explosive because the action is swift, occurs only one time for each flower, and is irreversible. [10] This quick pollination event plays a significant role in optimizing mating and has been hypothesized to be a factor in the high level of speciation within this family. [3] There are two parts of the floral anatomy that contribute to the explosive pollination mechanism: the style and the hooded staminode. [3]
The secondary pollination presentation begins after a mechanical stimulus is introduced by a pollinator on the trigger appendage of the hooded staminode. [11] [10] Touching this trigger causes the release of the style from the contacted staminode, leading to rapid inward rolling of the style which is no longer being held under high tension. [11] [12] During this quick rolling movement, self pollen (located on top of the style) is deposited on the pollinator while cross-pollen is scooped off the pollinator into the stigmatic cavity. [12] [10] This single action occurs very quickly with the full movement being clocked in at around 0.03 seconds. [12]
The most well-known species in the family is arrowroot ( Maranta arundinacea ), a plant of the Caribbean, grown in parts of the Caribbean, Australasia, and sub-Saharan Africa for its easily digestible starch known as arrowroot. It is grown commercially in the West Indies and tropical Americas.[ citation needed ]
Several species of genus Goeppertia are grown as houseplants for their large ornamental leaves, which are variegated in shades of green, white, and pink. Other genera grown for houseplants includes Stromanthe , Ctenanthe , and Maranta .[ citation needed ]
Calathea lutea has tough, durable leaves used to make waterproof baskets, and in the Caribbean and Central America, its leaves are used for roofing. Two Mexican species - C. macrosepala and C. violacea - have flowers that are cooked and used as vegetables. C. allouia or leren, from the West Indies and tropical America, is known as sweet corn root for its edible tuber.[ citation needed ]
Schumannianthus dichotomus is used for weaving mats to use on floors and beds.[ citation needed ]
The Zingiberales are flowering plants forming one of four orders in the commelinids clade of monocots, together with its sister order, Commelinales. The order includes 68 genera and 2,600 species. Zingiberales are a unique though morphologically diverse order that has been widely recognised as such over a long period of time. They are usually large herbaceous plants with rhizomatous root systems and lacking an aerial stem except when flowering. Flowers are usually large and showy, and the stamens are often modified (staminodes) to also form colourful petal-like structures that attract pollinators.
Canna or canna lily is the only genus of flowering plants in the family Cannaceae, consisting of 10 species. All of the genus's species are native to the American tropics and naturalized in Europe, India and Africa in the 1860s. Although they grow native to the tropics, most cultivars have been developed in temperate climates and are easy to grow in most countries of the world, as long as they receive at least 6–8 hours average sunlight during the summer, and are moved to a warm location for the winter. See the Canna cultivar gallery for photographs of Canna cultivars.
The Strelitziaceae comprise a family of monocotyledonous flowering plants, very similar in appearance and growth habit to members of the related families Heliconiaceae and Musaceae. The three genera with seven species of Strelitziaceae have been included in Musaceae in some classifications, but are generally recognized as a separate family in more recent treatments such as the APG II system (2003). The APG II system assigns the Strelitziaceae to the order Zingiberales in the commelinid clade.
Costaceae, known as the Costus family or spiral gingers, is a family of pantropical monocots. It belongs to the order Zingiberales, which contains horticulturally and economically important plants such as the banana (Musaceae), bird-of-paradise (Strelitziaceae), and edible ginger (Zingiberaceae). The seven genera in Costaceae together contain about 143 known species. They are native to tropical climates of Asia, Africa, Central America, and South America. Several species are frequently found in cultivation.
Sabiaceae is a family of flowering plants that were placed in the order Proteales according to the APG IV system. It comprises three genera, Meliosma, Ophiocaryon and Sabia, with 66 known species, native to tropical to warm temperate regions of southern Asia and the Americas. The family has also been called Meliosmaceae Endl., 1841, nom. rej.
Eupomatia is a genus of three species of plants in the ancient family Eupomatiaceae, and is the sole genus in the family. Eupomatiaceae is recognised by most taxonomists and classified in the plant order Magnoliales. The three described species are shrubs or small trees, native to the rainforests and humid eucalypt forests of eastern Australia and New Guinea. The type species Eupomatia laurina was described in 1814 by Robert Brown.
Prayer plant may refer to:
Rosmarinic acid, named after rosemary, is a polyphenol constituent of many culinary herbs, including rosemary, perilla, sage, mint, and basil.
Goeppertia curaraya is a species of flowering plant in the Marantaceae family. It is native to Ecuador and Colombia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.
Goeppertia gandersii is a species of flowering plant in the Marantaceae family. It is endemic to Napo Province of Ecuador. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.
Goeppertia libbyana is a species of flowering plant in the family Marantaceae, endemic to Napo Province of Ecuador. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
Goeppertia veitchiana is a species of flowering plant in the Marantaceae family. It is endemic to Ecuador. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.
Goeppertia loeseneri, the Brazilian star calathea, is a species of plant belonging to the Marantaceae family. It is native to Peru, northern Brazil, Colombia, and Ecuador. It can grow to a height of 1.2m.
Ctenanthe oppenheimiana, the giant bamburanta or never-never plant, is a species of flowering plant of family Marantaceae and is a native of Brazil. It is an evergreen perennial. This plant can grow to more than 1 m (3.3 ft) tall and broad, with long narrow leaves up to 40 cm (16 in) in length. The leaves are adorned on the secondary veins with dark green bands, which meet and merge in the margins. In between are cream coloured bands. The undersides of the leaves have a red-ish colour. The cultivar ‘Tricolor’ is a common ornamental variety, which as a houseplant in the UK has gained the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit.. This cultivar is visually very similar to Stromanthe Sanguinea 'Triostar', and the two are often confused. The difference between the two lies in the lack of regular banding on the leaves of the Sromanthe, and the generally more rounded shape of the leaves in Ctenanthe.
Goeppertia insignis, the rattlesnake plant, is a species of flowering plant in the Marantaceae family, native to Rio de Janeiro state in Brazil.
Goeppertia allouia, known as lerén or lairén in Spanish, and also known in English as Guinea arrowroot, and sweet corn root, is a plant in the arrowroot family, native to northern South America and the Caribbean, The name "allouia" is derived from the Carib name for the plant Lerén is a minor food crop in the American tropics, but was one of the earliest plants domesticated by pre-historic Amerindians in South America.
Arrowroot is to an edible starch obtained from several tropical plants.
Maranta leuconeura, widely known as the prayer plant due to its daily sunlight-dependent movements, is a species of flowering plant in the family Marantaceae native to the Brazilian tropical forests. It is a variable, rhizomatous perennial, growing to 30 cm (12 in) tall and broad, with crowded clumps of evergreen, strikingly-marked oval leaves, each up to 12 cm (5 in) long. The plant spreads itself horizontally, carpeting an entire small area of forest floor, sending roots into the substrate at each leaf node.
Thalia geniculata, the bent alligator-flag, arrowroot, or fire-flag, is a plant species widespread across tropical Africa and much of the Americas.
Stromanthe sanguinea is a plant species in the arrowroot family Marantaceae, native to the Brazilian rainforest.
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