Sure, prayer plants have pretty, broad leaves that are green on top with purple-pink stripes and dark maroon underneath. But there's something else that's even more special about them...
As darkness falls each night, their leaves fold together, making them look like hands in prayer. They open again in the morning when light hits them (listen closely, and sometimes you'll hear a faint rustle – another hallelujah moment). This behaviour is believed to have adapted to benefit the plant’s longevity. At night, raindrops fall through the closed leaves and reach the roots, helping the plant retain moisture.
Native to moist and tropical forests in Central and South America, prayer plants (maranta leuconeura) have low-growing, spreading evergreen leaves, which grow in clumps, each extending about five inches long. The second part of the plant’s name, leuconeura, means white-veined, in recognition of the plant’s leaves, which sport that pattern.
![Floom White Label Plants 110](https://floom.imgix.net/general/floom-white-label-plants-110.jpg?auto=format&crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fm=pjpg&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&ixlib=php-1.1.0&q=65&w=1440&s=ee280aad9f922135aa17f0b7caf7abb1 1440w, https://floom.imgix.net/general/floom-white-label-plants-110.jpg?auto=format&crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fm=pjpg&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&ixlib=php-1.1.0&q=65&w=1000&s=5b2eee772ff6cae0f27235967bff3e66 1000w, https://floom.imgix.net/general/floom-white-label-plants-110.jpg?auto=format&crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fm=pjpg&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&ixlib=php-1.1.0&q=65&w=600&s=76b90e85985e1a8b856e23a2cdabde6c 600w, https://floom.imgix.net/general/floom-white-label-plants-110.jpg?auto=format&crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fm=pjpg&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&ixlib=php-1.1.0&q=65&w=400&s=f31b52725afcbce79990377c6be57249 400w)
How to care for it
Prayer plants like medium to bright indirect light. Keep the soil damp, but never wet or saturated. Like many tropical indoor plants, it likes humidity. Brown edges on the leaves indicate the air is too dry. Mist the leaves twice per week with room temperature water.
![Floom White Label Plants 1](https://floom.imgix.net/general/floom-white-label-plants-1.jpg?auto=format&crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fm=pjpg&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&ixlib=php-1.1.0&q=65&w=1440&s=4d9ef046e00ec5d2cc347f1878e6c216 1440w, https://floom.imgix.net/general/floom-white-label-plants-1.jpg?auto=format&crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fm=pjpg&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&ixlib=php-1.1.0&q=65&w=1000&s=fb037af13ae64b236f82bbd409b7b3f7 1000w, https://floom.imgix.net/general/floom-white-label-plants-1.jpg?auto=format&crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fm=pjpg&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&ixlib=php-1.1.0&q=65&w=600&s=f05ffc418d1fc545dea5d6be5a4dc31c 600w, https://floom.imgix.net/general/floom-white-label-plants-1.jpg?auto=format&crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fm=pjpg&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&ixlib=php-1.1.0&q=65&w=400&s=88d37920c092dbaaa43ff61d0dbbb41f 400w)
Top Floom tip
Propagating prayer plants is surprisingly easy, and can be done from spring to early summer. You can also propagate prayer plants through cuttings. Take cuttings just below the nodes closest to the bottom of the stem.