Prayer plant
Maranta leuconeura
Also called Herringbone plant and Rabbit's foot
Houseplant · Patterned foliageIt folds its leaves up at dusk and opens them at dawn. You can hear it on a quiet night.
Care at a glance
- Ease
- Hard
- Water
- Every 5 daysKeep it moist — water at the first hint of dryness — don't wait for a dry pot.
- Light
- Medium indirect
- Feed
- Every 30 days
- Humidity
- High
- Hardiness
- Tropical — indoors, warm RHS H1A, to 15°C
- Size
- 0.3 m tall · 0.3 m across
- Lifecycle
- Perennial
- Origin
- Brazil
Is it safe for pets and people?
PetsNothing recorded against it
No animal-poison authority lists this plant either way.
PeopleNot checked yet
Nobody has checked this one against a source for us yet, so treat it as unknown rather than safe.
Checked against ASPCA and RHS on 2026-07-31. Where a source says nothing, we say nothing.
A guide, not veterinary or medical advice. If a pet or a person has eaten a plant and you are worried, call your vet or doctor now — don’t wait for signs to appear. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
First signs of trouble
- A puff of tiny white moths lifts off when you brush the plant, and the leaf undersides carry flat white scales along the veins.Glasshouse whitefly · pest
- Brown crisp margins that follow the whole outline of the leaf while the red veins stay bright — tap water salts, worst on the oldest leaves.Leaf-edge burn · disorder