# 'Dwarf' Calathea ID



## Bunsincunsin (Feb 11, 2008)

I just received this plant as a bonus with some Microgramma sp. It's labeled as 'Dwarf' Calathea. Any ideas on what species? It's currently in a 2" pot and has leaves measuring 1"x2".


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## Tinctoc (Sep 15, 2012)

It's the kind that will rapidly take over your vivarium and choke out all of your plants. Quickly!!! Send it to me before it's too late!!!! hahaha  j/k, of course! Looks like it could be a velvet touch, but not 100% sure on the species.


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## BonnieLorraine (Jan 23, 2011)

Yeah, it looks exactly like my 'Velvet Touch' which gets a few feet tall. Might be good for a non dart frog tank though, seems like a good gecko plant.


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## ICS523 (Mar 10, 2012)

whatever it is its quite buitiful.
ive had similar plants in a tank before and it seemed to do fine.


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## Manuran (Aug 28, 2007)

It looks like Ctenanthe (which is related to Calathea) burle-marxii. If you look through photos, you'll see that most have much more markings than yours. But there are a few clones around that have very reduced amounts of markings. Amagris being the most common, but there are others. Some are also red/purple on the undersides of their leaves, while others are not. There is a chance that this is just a young plant of a larger species, but I think this is a good starting point.


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## Bunsincunsin (Feb 11, 2008)

Manuran said:


> It looks like Ctenanthe (which is related to Calathea) burle-marxii. If you look through photos, you'll see that most have much more markings than yours. But there are a few clones around that have very reduced amounts of markings. Amagris being the most common, but there are others. Some are also red/purple on the undersides of their leaves, while others are not. There is a chance that this is just a young plant of a larger species, but I think this is a good starting point.


I think you may be right. It looks a lot like Ctenanthe burl-marxii or amagris. It does have purple undersides on the leaves. I'll have to do some more looking around...

Thanks!


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## Manuran (Aug 28, 2007)

Great!
Just to clarify a little. Amagris is a specific clone/individual of C. burle-marxii. Another red-purple backed clone is Purple Tiger. I don't think you'll ever be able to pinpoint it down to the exact clone, but at least you'll know it's C. burle-marxii.


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