Overview
Interesting Facts
Common Names
Common Names in English:
Never-Never Plant, Oppenheims Ctenanthe
Description
Family Marantaceae
Herbs perennial
, rhizomatous
. Aerial
stems present or absent. Leaves distichous, usually large; petiole
sheathing
at base
, apex with a swollen pulvinus; leaf blade
pinnately veined, lateral
veins parallel, slightly S-shaped. Inflorescences terminal
or axillary
, borne on leafy shoots
or occasionally on separate, leafless shoots from rhizomes, compound
, headlike, spicate
, or diffuse
and much branched, bracteate
; bracts each subtending
a pair of flowers or a cincinus of paired
flowers. Flowers bisexual
, asymmetric
, paired or rarely borne singly. Sepals 3, free
. Corolla lobes
3, often slightly unequal, basally connate
into a tube
. Staminodes and stamen in 2 whorls: outer whorl with 1 or 2 petaloid
staminodes, rarely absent; inner whorl with 1 hooded
(cucullate
) staminode enclosing terminal portion of pistil at anthesis
and bearing a lateral appendage (trigger
), 1 thickened and fleshy
(callose
) staminode, and 1 fertile
stamen narrowly petaloid laterally; anther
1-loculed. Ovary inferior, 3-loculed, 1--3 locules fertile; ovules 1 per locule. Style cylindric
, adnate
to inside of corolla and staminode tube, free portion curved
after explosive forward movement (tripping) when released Seeds 1--3, hard, usually arillate
.from hooded staminode; stigma scoop-shaped or blunted and 3-cleft. Fruit a capsule, loculicidal, rarely indehiscent or berrylike.
Thirty-one genera and ca.
525 species: pantropical
but ca. 80% in America, absent from Australia; four genera (one introduced
) and eight species (two endemic, one introduced) in China.[1]
Physical Description
Habit: Evergreen .
Flowers: Flower Color: inconspicuous, none
Size/Age/Growth
Size: 18-24" tall.
Biology
Growth
Culture: Space 15-18" apart.
Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Partial shade to full shade.
Temperature: Cold Hardiness: 10a, 10b, 11. (map)
Taxonomy
- Domain:
Eukaryota
(
)
- Whittaker & Margulis,1978
- eukaryotes
- Kingdom:
Plantae
()
- Haeckel, 1866
- Plants
- Subkingdom:
Viridaeplantae
()
- Cavalier-Smith, 1981
- Phylum:
Tracheophyta
()
- Sinnott, 1935 ex Cavalier-Smith, 1998
- Vascular Plants
- Subphylum:
Euphyllophytina
()
- Infraphylum:
Radiatopses
()
- Kenrick & Crane, 1997
- Subclass:
Commelinidae
()
- Takhtajan, 1967
- Superorder:
Zingiberanae
()
- Takhtajan Ex Reveal, 1992
- Order:
Zingiberales
()
- Grisebach, 1854
- Family:
Marantaceae
()
- R. Br., in Flinders, 1814, nom. cons.
- Prayer-Plant Family
- Subfamily:
Yuccoideae
()
- Tribe:
Maranteae
()
- Genus:
Ctenanthe
()
- Eichler, 1884
- Subgenus:
intertidal
()
- Specific epithet:
oppenheimiana
- (E.Morren) K.Schum.
- Botanical name: - Ctenanthe oppenheimiana (E.Morren) K.Schum.
- Specific epithet:
oppenheimiana
- (E.Morren) K.Schum.
- Subgenus:
intertidal
(
- Genus:
Ctenanthe
(
- Tribe:
Maranteae
(
- Subfamily:
Yuccoideae
(
- Family:
Marantaceae
(
- Order:
Zingiberales
(
- Superorder:
Zingiberanae
(
- Subclass:
Commelinidae
(
- Infraphylum:
Radiatopses
(
- Subphylum:
Euphyllophytina
(
- Phylum:
Tracheophyta
(
- Subkingdom:
Viridaeplantae
(
- Kingdom:
Plantae
(
Notes
Basionym
: Marantaceae Calathea oppenheimiana E.Morren
Basionym author: (E.Morren)
Basionym: Marantaceae Calathea oppenheimiana E.Morren
Basionym author: (E.Morren)
Name
Status: Accepted Name
.
Last scrutiny: 21-Jun-2005
Similar Species
Members of the genus Ctenanthe
ZipcodeZoo has pages for 7 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:
C. amabilis (Prayer Plant) · C. burle-marxii (Prayer Plant) · C. lubbersiana (Ctenanthe) · C. lubbersiana 'Brazilian Snow' (Ctenanthe) · C. oppenheimiana (Never-Never Plant) · C. oppenheimiana var. Tricolor (Never-Never Plant) · C. pilosa 'Golden Mosaic' (Golden Mosaic Golden Variegated Ctenanthe)
More Info
- Search for Pictures: images.google.com
- Search for Scholarly Articles: Google Scholar
- Search using Scientific Name and Vernacular Names: All the Web | AltaVista Canada | AltaVista | Excite | Google | HotBot | Lycos
- Search using Specialized Databases: GenBank | Medline | Scirus | CISTI/CAL | Agricola Periodicals | Agricola Books
Further Reading
- Judd, W.S., Campbell, C.S., Kellog, E.A. and Donoghue, M.J. (2002): Plant Systematics: a phylogenetic approach, Sinauer, Sunderland, Mass.
- In: Wu Te-lin, ed., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 16(2): 158--169.
- Wu Te-lin & Chen Sen-jen. 1981. Marantaceae.
Notes
Contributors
- Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 16, 2012.
- Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Accessed March 14, 2008. http://www.gbif.org Mediated distribution data from 4 providers.
- Ruggiero M., Gordon D., Bailly N., Kirk P., Nicolson D. (2011). The Catalogue of Life Taxonomic Classification, Edition 2, Part A. In: Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2011 Annual Checklist (Bisby F.A., Roskov Y.R., Orrell T.M., Nicolson D., Paglinawan L.E., Bailly N., Kirk P.M., Bourgoin T., Baillargeon G., Ouvrard D., eds). DVD; Species 2000: Reading, UK.
- The International Plant Names Index. Accessed Dec 27, 2011.
- World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. Release date: November 27, 2009
Data Sources
Accessed through GBIF Data Portal March 14, 2008:
- Comisión nacional para el conocimiento y uso de la biodiversidad: Herbario del Instituto de Ecología, A.C., México (IE-XAL)
- Missouri Botanical Garden
Identifiers
- Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 5958920
- Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: Kew-235166
- Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 15607182
- Globally Unique Identifier: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:796413-1
- International Plant Names Index (IPNI) ID: 71824-2
- Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 646758
Footnotes
- Delin Wu & Helen Kennedy "Marantaceae". in Flora of China Vol. 24 Page 379. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
