Peacock plant
Goeppertia makoyana
Also called Calathea makoyana and Cathedral windows
Houseplant · Patterned foliageThe thinnest leaf of any calathea sold, which is why the markings glow when the light is behind them and why it browns faster than the rest. Never a sunny sill — the same thinness cooks.
Care at a glance
- Ease
- Very hard
- Water
- Every 5 daysKeep it moist — water at the first hint of dryness — don't wait for a dry pot.
- Light
- Medium indirect, never direct
- Feed
- Every 30 days
- Humidity
- Very high
- Hardiness
- Tropical — indoors, warm RHS H1A, to 15°C
- Size
- 0.45 m tall · 0.45 m across
- Lifecycle
- Perennial
- Origin
- Eastern Brazil
Is it safe for pets and people?
ASPCA has a page headed "Peacock Plant" and it is Kaempferia, a ginger, not this plant. Both happen to be non-toxic, so searching the name will not mislead you here — but it is not the same plant.
Nobody has checked this one against a source for us yet, so treat it as unknown rather than safe.
ASPCA's "Calathea spp." entry is written at genus level and this species was a Calathea when the catalogue was made. Non-toxic.
Checked against ASPCA on 2026-09-22.
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
- The whole margin goes brown and brittle at once rather than in patches — this leaf is the thinnest of any calathea sold and shows it first and worst.Leaf-edge burn · disorder
- Bleached fawn patches in the middle of the blade where the sun has fallen through glass, with the feathering washed out inside them.Scorch · disorder