Calathea utilis
A large prayer-plant relative, 2–4 m tall at maturity, with broad oval green leaves on thick petioles and cone-like inflorescences of green, red-brown, purple or red bracts around white flowers. It grows in wet foothill forest on the eastern slopes of the Andes in Ecuador and is listed as Near Threatened. It needs space, deep shade to dappled light, warmth and constant moisture.
Where it grows wild
Wet forest understorey in the subtropical and tropical lowland and montane forest of the Ecuadorian Amazon foothills, for example around Mera in Pastaza, along the Méndez–Morona road and in the Nangaritza valley. As a large herb it grows on the forest floor, often in gaps and along streams and roadsides where a little more light reaches it.
Herbarium specimens are from about 800–1,300 m, and one Colombian specimen is from about 1,470 m.
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The wild conditions above, turned into targets for a shelf, a tent or a greenhouse. The full profile has:
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Profiles are drafts built from measured range and climate and from published sources; each section carries its own confidence in the app.