I always thought of Ctenanthe’s leaves as pink and brown…
This is just a short post to pay tribute to a house plant I have lost. Her name was Ctenanthe, pronounced Tee-nanth-ee. I say “her” because that sound’s like a lovely woman’s name to me…
In fact her full name was Ctenanthe oppenheimiana Tricolor, but she was sometimes known as the giant bamburanta or never never plant and came from the Maranta family of Brazil.
The upper surface of Ctenanthe oppenheimiana Tricolor was green and white
The Tricolor part of her name came from the leaves, which had three colours, green and white on top and a lovely bright pink underneath.
The underside was pink…
She had been perfectly happy in the house for many years, although not in one of the main rooms we live in (that sounds like we have a mansion, but I mean “the box room”). And she never seemed to grow, but just sat there, never changing or growing any new leaves. As I didn’t see her often, I thought her leaves were pink and brown – a colour combination always in my mind as those were my college rowing colours, as well as the colours of Neapolitan ice-cream…
Only in the last year or so had I looked closely and realised the brown was just the green viewed through the pink underside (like mixing paints from a paint-box, really).
Anyway, Ctenanthe has now turned up her toes – or at least curled up her leaves – and is no longer with us. I blame myself. Apparently Marantas like the air around them to be a little damp. I wonder if she started to decline when we got double glazing?
After many years in the house, Ctenanthe’s leaves curled up and died…
The picture above shows her in the garden, where I put her to recover or not – and I’m afraid it was a not. So I cut off the dead leaves to stumps. There was still green in the stems, though, so I couldn’t quite throw her in the dustbin yet.
I wonder where the “never never” nickname of the plant comes from? Is it because it seldom flowers? Certainly mine never did. Yet the Latin name comes from the Greek for “comb flower” (kteis-anthos). And when you eventually find a picture of the flower, you can see why…
The flowers of Ctenanthe oppenheimiana Tricolor from the Garden of Vila Porto Mare on Flickr…
STOP PRESS: Ah, maybe I was too hasty! As I was writing this I realised the first frosts were on their way, so I decided to check on the stump of old Ctenanthe in her plastic pot in the garden. Still green… Perhaps she just needed re-potting?
So I cut her in pieces, roughly, before I noticed there were little white shoots coming up below soil level. She lives! So she is now in two pots (cut in half like a magician’s assistant) on my window ledge, to see if any natural magic will happen before the spring. Otherwise she’s going to be rather an ugly sight for the next six months…
The Squirrelbasket 
Hi Pat I hope your lovely plant does survive after keeping her so long. Good luck anyway.
Thanks, Rita, but I wish I hadn’t hacked her in two!
Best wishes 🙂
I’m useless with house plants – they just become like ornaments – so I forget to water them – I only have two now – which seem to thrive of my neglect. Hope the plant picks up for you – it does look lovely when it is growing well.
Thanks Elaine. The best example of healthy neglect I have ever seen was my late mother-in-law’s Easter Cactus. She ignored it completely and it was watered only when we visited twice a year, in summer and at Christmas. Yet still it lived and bloomed…
Best wishes 🙂
Ah Pat, I can feel a rising from the ashes here 🙂 The Yucca I bought in 1986 has survived many little deaths although in a much reduced form.now Like Elaine, I am useless with houseplants as they get forgotten. Our shrubs in the garden do really well with minimum maintenance … Please keep us posted.
Ah yes, minimum maintenance – I like that idea!
But going back to Ctenanthe, I feel this is a bit like Weightwatchers – now I know you are all watching for bulletins, I dare not just throw her in the dustbin!
Best wishes 🙂
🙂 Yep!
Pat..so sorry to hear of your plight..I too have a Ctenanthe right outside my patio door..however I live in tropical Florida so I only bring her in when it gets below 60 degrees..she likes light, BUT, not direct sun and gets watered only when the soil is dry..when I am done with the pot, I usually add a bit of water and pour it in her pot tray..she laps it up..best of luck I hope her ” offspring” make it…Happy Hallow’s Eve by the way…..
That’s helpful. Mine was in a spot where she only had weak early morning light. I will bear in mind the watering, as I have lost all too many plants through overdoing it in the past! Still not sure what shrivelled up the leaves. I will maybe spray them with water if the “offspring” make it.
And Happy All Hallows to you, too. With the change from daylight saving time this week, the evenings are getting darker and last night I walked home under a full moon. It seemed very appropriate for the season 🙂
I have one of these too! She’s beautiful and has tripled in size since I bought her 5 years ago. She’s a little leggy though, and has sprouted various offspring, which I have learned that she doesn’t like if I cut them off. When her leaves shrivel I cut them off, and she seems to like this. My little girl is about 5 feet tall now and really enjoyed being repotted. She also thrives on neglect (I water her about once a month, into a tray at the bottom) and sits perpendicular to the window so she gets the light but not directly. I came here looking for her name (I picked her up from a hardware store and she wasn’t labelled), so thank you for enlightening me. What a beautiful name it is, too.
No problem – glad to be of help!
I can’t believe your “little girl” made it to 5 feet tall! If mine survives I’ll clearly need a bigger pot…
Thanks for the advice, too 🙂
I have one too! She was just a small thing when I bought her and now 6ft tall and beautiful. I look at her and admire her beauty.
I have this question. One of the leaves has bounced up and down a couple of times which caught my attention! It bounced about 10/12 times then stopped..
I haven’t noticed if all the leaves move at times. Is this a common feature of this plant?
I’m afraid I have no idea!
Best wishes 🙂
Yes it does ! I am glad that I found your comment. 🙂 My flower move her leaves all the time. 😀 Maybe she’s trying to say something :)) Best of luck !
i no this is an older post but there in the prayer plant fam. all move up and down acourding to circadian rithum likes sunflowers follow the sun
Thanks for that snippet of interesting information!
All the best 🙂
Pat…how is ” she ” coming along ? any better ? you noted the white sprouts, and she was not a pretty sight..well remember the “ugly duckling ” she became a swan..by the way it got quite cold here so I brought her in, but not the house proper ( too warm) placed her in a sunny ( morning) area..and she is doing well..I had some coffee beans ( hazelnut) that I had in the refrig for far too long, so I scattered them on the soil at her roots..OMG..for what ever reason, she is showing new shoots ! I’ve never done that before..but it is working..just thought I would pass it on…Trust me ” she will survive ” under your care…have a wonderful late winter day…
Thanks for the advice! Do you think coffee grounds would do? I don’t drink real coffee at home but may be able to get some “dregs” from someone else at the office…
And yes she is hanging on in there, but only in the way of a couple of weedy leaves at the edge of the pot. Hopefully she will rally if she can hold on for the sunnier days…
Best wishes 🙂
I bought my ctenanthe about 2 months ago. (Mine seems masculine) I thought he was doing fine, but today, I noticed that some of his leaves were all curled up and dry. I keep the soil moist, so I don’t know what the problem is. Also trimmed some leaves off that had large brown spots on them. Maybe I should stick to ‘easy to grow’ plants!
Ooh, the brown spots sound like a disease – or maybe it’s just this whole drying out thing starting. I have yet to find the solution but most sources say Ctenanthe likes a position that is light but not too sunny and, as you say, it needs plenty of watering – although I suppose even this can be overwatered (that’s usually how I kill off my house plants!) Do you suppose misting the atmosphere around the leaves would help?? Best of luck 🙂
The new shoots that are coming out are DRY! Yes, I probably should mist, but I’m kind of lazy about that. Maybe putting it on a tray of pebbles with water and I also thought about getting a small vaporizor. Air conditioned houses are dry. I’m new to the whole houseplant thing, but I love my plants. The others (about 15-20) are pretty healthy. I try to read up on the different varieties and learn what they need. I like a good challenge, and I think I got one here!
I hope your plant recovers. I bought one yesterday, repotted it into an attractive container, but since then the leaves have curled and I’m fearing the worst. It’s an established plant from a well know nursery, so did not expect this result. Perhaps the shock of repotting has done it. So maybe there’s hope. Cheers!
Sadly it didn’t recover…
Hope yours does, though 🙂
I grow mine in the ground in coastal Georgia. I’ve divided and have them all over – this year they ALL boomed!
That sounds much healthier – out in the open air!
I have visited your blog and Savannah looks a really lovely place to live.
All the best 🙂
I have one too! I love this little story! I call mine Bambi and I mist her daily. Bambi also likes to fold herself up at night and I say she’s “going to sleep”. I loved your post! I hope your Baby flourishes!
Well done for keeping her alive!
Best wishes 🙂