'Peacock' · ← Goeppertia Updated 2026-08-14

GOEPPERTIA

Goeppertia makoyana 'Peacock'

A cultivar epithet on record for a species of the Marantaceae family, with no located originator and no appointed registration authority for the genus.

Overview

Goeppertia makoyana 'Peacock' is a cultivar epithet recorded in the Digital Towns plant registry for a named selection of Goeppertia makoyana (É.Morren) Borchs. & S.Suárez, a perennial herb in the family Marantaceae. Plants of the World Online records Goeppertia makoyana as a species of the wet tropical biome, native to Espírito Santo, Brazil [2]. The accepted botanical name was established by Borchsenius, Suárez and Prince, who published 246 new combinations in 2012 after demonstrating through molecular phylogenetic analysis that Calathea as previously circumscribed was polyphyletic; the combination Goeppertia makoyana appeared at page 632 of Systematic Botany 37(3) [1]. The GBIF Backbone Taxonomy independently records the same accepted name at species key 7708211, citing the same 2012 publication as authority [3].

No primary source describing the diagnostic characters that distinguish the 'Peacock' selection from other plants of Goeppertia makoyana has been located. Limited authoritative sources available; further research needed.

Names

Three name classes are relevant to any cultivated plant entry: the registered cultivar epithet, any trade designation, and any patent denomination.

Registered cultivar epithet. The epithet 'Peacock' is the cultivar name as held in this registry. Under the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants (ICNCP), a cultivar epithet must be enclosed in single quotation marks and is not italicised [4]. The full designation is therefore Goeppertia makoyana 'Peacock'. The common name 'peacock plant' is applied in trade to the species as a whole and is not equivalent to the cultivar epithet 'Peacock'.

Trade designation. No trade designation has been located for this cultivar in any primary record consulted.

Patent denomination. No plant patent has been identified for the epithet 'Peacock' as applied to Goeppertia makoyana. The registry records patent_number as null. No patent denomination therefore exists for this cultivar.

Origin

No originator is documented. This cultivar predates any registration authority for Marantaceae.

The registry records originator as null with originator_unknown set to true. No originator source, origin place, origin date, first propagated place, or first propagated date is held in the registry record. The parent species was first described by Charles Jacques Edouard Morren as Calathea makoyana in Annales d'horticulture belge et étrangère volume 22 at page 321 in 1872 [2], and the combination was transferred to Goeppertia by Borchsenius and Suárez in 2012 [1]. That nomenclatural history concerns the species, not the cultivar: the cultivar epithet 'Peacock' has no locatable originator record in any primary source consulted.

Registration Context

No International Cultivar Registration Authority has been appointed for Marantaceae. The International Society for Horticultural Science (ISHS), through its Commission Cultivar Registration, appoints ICRAs and monitors their work; the Commission's own pages confirm that the scheme covers a considerable number of horticulturally significant plant genera and that the Commission invites organisations interested in taking up the role for genera not currently covered [4]. By contrast, the International Aroid Society (IAS) holds an ICRA appointment from ISHS for the family Araceae (excluding Calla L. and Zantedeschia Spreng.) and operates the Aroid Cultivar Registry under the ICNCP [5]. Marantaceae has no equivalent appointed body.

Digital Towns is an applicant and an aggregator; it is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operating under the ISHS Commission Cultivar Registration or any appointed ICRA. In the absence of an appointed authority, no formal register of Goeppertia cultivar epithets exists and no mechanism for verifying the uniqueness of the epithet 'Peacock' within the denomination class exists through an appointed authority [4].

Documentation

The taxonomy of the parent species is well documented. Borchsenius, Suárez and Prince (2012) published the combination Goeppertia makoyana at page 632 of Systematic Botany 37(3) following molecular phylogenetic analysis [1]. Plants of the World Online records the accepted name under LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:60461041-2, with Calathea makoyana É.Morren (1872) as a synonym [2]. The University of Connecticut Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology lists the species in institutional cultivation under the accepted Goeppertia name, applying the common name 'Peacock Plant' to the species as a whole [6].

Documentation specific to the cultivar 'Peacock' as a formally distinguished selection is absent from all primary records consulted. No plant patent, formal cultivar registration, or peer-reviewed publication describing the diagnostic characters of the 'Peacock' selection has been located. The registry carries no distinguishing_traits field for this cultivar. Limited authoritative sources available; further research needed.

Registry record

The entries below are the registry rows this article is written from. Each carries its own source, its role, and both dates. A row recorded as nomenclatural evidence is dated documentation of a name in use and is never cited in the prose above.

Registry card

Goeppertia makoyana 'Peacock' is a cultivar epithet applied to the species Goeppertia makoyana (É.Morren) Borchs. & S.Suárez (Marantaceae), a perennial herb native to Espírito Santo, Brazil. No originator, patent, or primary cultivar description has been located, and no International Cultivar Registration Authority has been appointed for Marantaceae.

Genus
Goeppertia
Species
makoyana
Classification
not recorded
Originator
not documented
Established
not documented
Patent
none on record

Name classes

Three name classes with three different legal statuses attach to a cultivated plant: the registered cultivar epithet (governed by the ICNCP, printed in single quotes), any trade designation (a marketing name or trademark, never printed in single quotes), and the patent denomination (the name as published in a plant patent). Conflating them is the most common error in horticultural writing, and it is the one this registry exists to prevent.

NameClassSource
Peacock Accepted evidence only Digital Towns registry — name in trade use, source verification pending (2026-08-11)
Placeholder record. No authoritative source for this cultivar has been located; Marantaceae has no ICRA and no register. Not citable in prose and does not count toward the indexing threshold. To be replaced by a sourced record from the USPTO -> journals -> dated-catalog research pass.

Origin and parentage

This registry has not located significant documentation to substantiate the origin of this name. No originator, introduction date, or registration record has been found in any source examined — no cultivar registration authority exists for Marantaceae that could have recorded one.

No independent dated documentation has been located to date. What this registry holds is its own record of the name in commercial use, 2026-08-11 — not third-party documentation.

This record is maintained openly and updates as documentation is located. Documented evidence of this cultivar's origin — dated catalogues, listings, or publications — can be submitted for verification.

Patent and propagation status

No plant patent is recorded for this cultivar in this registry. That is not the same as a positive finding that none exists: absence here means we have not located one.

See an error, or have documentation we lack? Submissions open shortly. Corrections are reviewed against documentation before the record changes.

Sources

  1. Borchsenius, F., Suárez, L.S. and Prince, L.M. (2012). Molecular phylogeny and redefined generic limits of Calathea (Marantaceae). Systematic Botany 37(3): 620-635. (2012-01-01). Systematic Botany (American Society of Plant Taxonomists). https://doi.org/10.1600/036364412X648571 Accessed 2026-08-14.
  2. The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2026. Goeppertia makoyana (E.Morren) Borchs. and S.Suarez. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. (n.d.). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (Plants of the World Online). https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:60461041-2 Accessed 2026-08-14.
  3. GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Goeppertia makoyana (E.Morren) Borchs. and S.Suarez. Species key 7708211. Global Biodiversity Information Facility. (n.d.). Global Biodiversity Information Facility. https://www.gbif.org/species/7708211 Accessed 2026-08-14.
  4. ISHS Commission Cultivar Registration. International Cultivar Registration Authorities. International Society for Horticultural Science. (n.d.). International Society for Horticultural Science (ISHS). https://ishs.org/scientific-structure/cmnr-cultivar-registration/ Accessed 2026-08-14.
  5. About the Aroid Cultivar Registry. International Aroid Society ICRA. International Aroid Society. (n.d.). International Aroid Society. https://www.aroidcultivars.org/about Accessed 2026-08-14.
  6. Goeppertia makoyana (Peacock Plant). EEB Greenhouse Holdings. University of Connecticut Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. (n.d.). University of Connecticut, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. http://titanarum.uconn.edu/198500003.html Accessed 2026-08-14.

DIGITAL TOWNS REGISTRY · PLANTS · REVIEWED 2026-08-14