Calathea crotalifera (Rattlesnake plant)

The rattlesnake plant’s flowerlike yellow spike looks a great deal like a rattler’s tail. The plants are native to regions between Nicaragua and Ecuador. It is naturalized in Hawai‘i now. I see this plant variously called Calathea crotalifera, Calathea insignis, and Calathea lancifolia. But these plants differ significantly, and only C. crotalifera has the distinctive yellow rattler flowerheads.

Leaves: Large, ovate, alternate, basal, dark green with a pale green midrib on top, and grayish green below.

Flowers: The yellow (sometimes pink) spike up to 10″ (25 cm) long that is this plant’s namesake is a set of bracts (modified leaves)—the true flowers are small and yellow or yellow-orange, poking out of the sides of the leaves.

Fruits: Seed capsules are egg-shaped, ⅜″ (1.2 cm) long, with white flesh and blue seeds.

Kingdom	Plantae	Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae (from Stearn's Botanical Latin)
Subkingdom	Tracheobionta	Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients
Division	Magnoliophyta	Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms
Class	Liliopsida	Monocots (plants with a single seed leaf); includes the lily family
Subclass	Zingiberidae	Gingers and related plants
Order	Zingiberales	Ginger, cardamom, turmeric, galangal, myoga, bananas, arrowroot, and others
Family	Marantaceae	The arrowroot or “prayer plant” family, about 530 species of tropical flowering plants
Genus	Calathea	From the Greek κάλαθος (calathus), “basket,” because of the inflorescence’ resemblence to a basket of flowers
Species	crotalifera	From Latin crotalum, “rattlesnake, castanet,” fero, “to carry.”

About plant names...