Named for Bartolomeo Maranta, an Italian physician and botanist of the sixteenth century. It gets its common name from the fact that its leaves stay flat during the day and then fold up like praying hands at night.
The prayer plant is one of the most distinguishable tropicals, thanks to its beautiful decorative leaves. This popular tricolor variety has deep green, velvety leaves with yellow splotches down the midrib and arching yellow veins traveling to the leaf margins. A slow-grower, the prayer plant can eventually reach up to a foot in height indoors. They are fairly common as houseplants and can be planted and cared for indoors during any time of the year.