Stromanthes sanguinea 'Prayer Plant'

1 GALLON STROMANTHES SANGUINEA ‘TRICOLOR’
Tricolor Prayer Plant
USDA Zones 9-11
 
This tropical herbaceous perennial is in the prayer plant family with dramatic variegated leaves. Native to the rainforests of Brazil, it thrives in high humidity & warm temperatures. 
 
There are a few issues with its name! The true cultivar name is ‘Triostar,’ but it’s typically sold under the name ‘Tricolor.’ Additionally, the species name was technically changed to S. thalia, but this is rarely seen in the trade. 
 
This Stromanthe has thick, glossy, oblong leaves with entire margins that are dark green on the top & burgundy on the underneath. Tricolor has irregular variations in cream, green, & pink on the upper surface & are either solid pink or burgundy/maroon with pink variegation on the lower surface. The amount of variegation varies considerably, with some plants — or just some leaves on a plant — they’re nearly all cream, while other leaves have green bands of various widths, to nearly completely green with just a few creamy streaks. The petioles are a pink or burgundy as well. 
 
Tricolor has short, creeping stems that can grow up to 30” tall. The 6-12” long leaves arise on long petioles from the crown of the plant. Each leaf has a mechanism — the pulvinus — for orienting the leaf blade towards the sun. The leaves fold up at night, making the rosy pink undersides more noticeable. By morning, the leaves face to the East so they will catch more morning light, but by midday they move to a more upright position so less of the blade is exposed to intense sun. 
 
WANT A COOL TIME-LAPSE PICTURE? Buy our Stromanthe & our Oxalis triangularis & set your camera on time lapse. Watch them both move & fold their leaves as time goes on! 
 
Flowers are rarely produced on this tropical house plant; it’s mostly purchased for its striking foliage. In its native habitat during winter & spring it produces panicles of white or pink flowers surrounded by tubular orange-red bracts, which age to a reddish pink. These blooms are sometimes seen on houseplants grown in greenhouses. 
 
 
We ship a 1 gallon size plant bare root without a pot.