Velvet calathea

Description

Goeppertia rufibarba (syn. Calathea rufibarba), the furry feather or velvet calathea, is a flowering plant in the Marantaceae family, native to Bahia state of northeastern Brazil. The plant's common names are due to its fuzzy, fur-like underleaf texture, which is unusual in its genus. Common as a houseplant, the species requires warm temperatures, shade, and humidity to thrive, and may produce small yellow flowers. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. Goeppertia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Marantaceae, native to the New World Tropics. It contains 243 accepted species, many of which were until recently assigned to Calathea. It was first described by Nees von Esenbeck in 1831, who erroneously erected another genus Goeppertia in 1836, which has now been synonymized with Endlicheria. In 1862 August Grisebach described another genus Goeppertia; this has now been synonymized with Bisgoeppertia. The genus name of Goeppertia is in honour of Heinrich Göppert (1800–1884), a German botanist and paleontologist.