PlantFiles: Rattlesnake Plant
Calathea insignis

I think this is the neatest calathea there is. Bushy, long highly patterened leaves put on quite a show. I have this plant in extremely high light, basically almost 'full sun' (it grows beside a stand of Siam Ruby bananas) and it seems to enjoy this light. It does require a lot of water. Rewarding to grow.

This plant is great. It has upright, very long (over 50 cm long), sword-shaped, shiny leaves with wavey edges. The upper page light green, with dark green leaf-shaped spots of various sized coming from the main vein. The edge is also dark green. The lower page is marroon/purple, and creates a spectacular effect, as the new leaves grow upwards, revealing both sides in the middle of the foliage. The flowers are unknown to me, and I believe it hardly will bloom in artificial conditions.

This plant needs an organic-based soil - and probably constantly needs a nitrogen based fertilizer. It likes high moisture and some air humidity. Won´t tolerate air currents. It likes high to moderate temperatures and light to full shade, so it may be cultivated as a house plant.