Description
Calathea lancifolia (Rattle Snake plant) is a native to Brazil and is one of the most colorful and interesting of the group in my opinion. A cool story I like to share about this plant is that while down for the aroid show in Florida years ago. I was able to visit my good friend John Banta. He had always grown a lot of amazing Aroids and gingers and every visit brought up something new I had not seen before. On this visit. John had a full table with maybe 200 plants of Calathea lancifolia these were as I remember seedling that were grown out. He asked which one was the best clone out of all the seedlings. From a distance most people would not notice their was a difference in any of the plant. On close inspection I looked over the seedlings and found one I thought looked nice. John pointed out how the colors were not as bright and how the lines in the leaves were not perfect as the clone he had selected. This little lesson on selecting plants has always stuck with me. This clone is the one that later was put into tissue culture labs and is the selected variety everyone grows. Johns good eyes and hard work have benefited all who now grow this amazing plant.? I added a picture of John with some of his plants selections.
