Shapes and colours
Maranta (Fascinator) has green leaves with deep pink veins. It’s a sturdy plant with a romantic edge. Maranta Kerchoveana is bright green with dark green spots. Maranta can produce small white flowers.
Origin
Maranta is a genus of flowering plants from the Marantaceae family, a family of 'prayer plants', which also includes the 'arrowroot'. It's a very tall plant found in Central and South America, mainly in the jungles of Brazil.
Symbolism
Maranta is named after Bartolomeo Maranta (1500 - 24 March 1571), an Italian physician, botanist and literary scholar. One of its nicknames is the Ten Commandments plant, thanks to the ten dark green spots on the leaves of the Kerchoveana. But its most beautiful name is prayer plant. When it gets dark in the evening, the leaves of the plant start to move around and raise themselves up. Then they fold themselves shut, just like praying hands. It's a nice to take a moment before bedtime just to pause and think about what you are grateful for today!
You can see this wonderful dancing effect in a prayer plant time lapse here:
