Named for Bartolomeo Maranta, an Italian physician and botanist of the 16th century, the Maranta genus includes a few dozen low-growing plants native to Brazil, among them the prayer plant (Maranta leuconeura). It gets its common name from the fact that its leaves stay flat during the day and then fold up like praying hands at night.

The prayer plant is one of the most distinguishable tropicals, thanks to its beautiful . The popular tricolor variety has deep green, velvety leaves with yellow splotches down the midrib and arching red veins traveling to the leaf margins. A slow-grower, the prayer plant can eventually reach up to a foot in height indoors. They are fairly  and can be planted and cared for indoors during any time of the year.