Maranta sylvatica Roscoe ex Smith; Phrynium variegatum N. E. Brown.

Herbs 30--130 cm tall. Rhizomes sympodial, cylindric, fleshy, starchy. Stems erect, often apically branched, slender. Basal leaves 4--8; cauline leaves 1--8; petiole 3.5--20 cm in basal leaves, often absent in cauline leaves, pulvinus 0.2--1.8 cm, glabrous except adaxially tomentose; leaf blade ovate-oblong, 3.5--35 × 3--11 cm, adaxially sparsely pilose, abaxially glabrous or sparsely pilose, base rounded to truncate, apex acuminate. Inflorescences several per leafy shoot; bracts 1 or 2(or 3), each subtending 2 or 3 flower pairs, distichous, green, 2.4--6 cm. Flowers mostly self-pollinating; common pedicel 2.3--5.5 cm. Sepals green, narrowly ovate, 1.2--1.7 cm. Corolla white; tube curved, 1.2--1.4 cm, base inflated; lobes 8--10 mm. Staminodes white; outer staminodes 2, obovate, ca. 1 cm. Ovary densely pubescent, rarely glabrous or subglabrous. Capsule green or tinged reddish brown, ellipsoid, 7--8 × 4--5 mm, dehiscent. Seeds brown, rugose; aril basal, white, 2-lobed. Fl. Jun--Aug. 2 n = 18, 48.

Grown as a source of starch.

Cultivated. Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Taiwan, S Yunnan [native to tropical America; cultivated pantropically].