'Lemon Lime' · ← Maranta Updated 2026-08-14

MARANTA

Maranta 'Lemon Lime'

A named cultivar of Maranta leuconeura, documented for its dark green leaf with yellowish-green center and striping.

Overview

Maranta 'Lemon Lime' is a cultivar epithet applied to a plant in the genus Maranta L., the type genus of the family Marantaceae. Plants of the World Online records Maranta leuconeura É.Morren as an accepted species, first published in Annales d'Horticulture Belge et Étrangère 24: 323 (1874), within a genus of approximately 54 accepted species distributed from Mexico to tropical America [1]. In trade, 'Lemon Lime' is consistently placed under Maranta leuconeura and specifically under the variety erythroneura G.S.Bunting, which Plants of the World Online records as an accepted infraspecific taxon [1].

The North Carolina State University Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox documents 'Lemon' (referred to in trade as Lemon Lime Prayer Plant) as a named cultivar of Maranta leuconeura, describing its foliage as a dark green leaf with a yellowish-green center and striping [2]. That description is the only institutional record of the cultivar name and a distinguishing foliar character located in a source citable under this registry's editorial standards.

The registry currently records species_id as null for this cultivar. The research underlying this page consistently places 'Lemon Lime' under Maranta leuconeura var. erythroneura G.S.Bunting, both accepted taxa per Plants of the World Online [1], and a human reviewer will resolve the registry assignment.

Names and Name Classes

Registered epithet. 'Lemon Lime' is the cultivar epithet as recorded in the Digital Towns registry. The International Society for Horticultural Science has not appointed an International Cultivar Registration Authority for Marantaceae, Maranta, Calathea, or Goeppertia [3]. No formal registration of this epithet with an appointed authority has therefore occurred, and the epithet is documented here on the basis of institutional trade literature rather than a primary registration record.

Trade designation. No trade designation distinct from the cultivar epithet has been located in any authoritative source. The phrase 'Lemon Lime Prayer Plant' appears in trade contexts, but no source cleared for citation establishes this as a formally distinct trade designation or trademark.

Patent denomination. No plant patent has been filed for a Maranta cultivar named 'Lemon Lime'. A review of publicly available patent records located U.S. Plant Patent PP24749, which pertains to a Nandina cultivar, and U.S. Plant Patent PP11962, which concerns a different Maranta leuconeura cultivar entirely. Both are silent regarding 'Lemon Lime' [5][6]. The registry patent_number field is null.

Origin and Authorship

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

The registry fact pack carries no originator, namer, parentage, derivation, year_established, origin_place, or origin_date. No seed parentage, pollen parentage, sport-of relationship, or derivation statement has been located in any primary record. Limited authoritative sources available; further research needed.

Registration Context

No International Cultivar Registration Authority has been appointed for Marantaceae. The International Society for Horticultural Science appoints ICRAs under the provisions of the ICNCP, and its cultivar registration pages do not list any authority for Maranta or the family Marantaceae as a whole [3]. The International Aroid Society is the appointed ICRA for the family Araceae, which is a separate family, and no registration authority for Marantaceae derives from that appointment.

The denomination class recorded in the Digital Towns registry is 'maranta'. The Digital Towns registry is an applicant aggregator and is not an appointed registration authority. No publication establishing the epithet 'Lemon Lime' with a description in a dated hard-copy publication, as required by the ICNCP, has been located [3].

Documentation

Two categories of authoritative documentation have been located for this cultivar. Plants of the World Online confirms the accepted status of Maranta leuconeura É.Morren and of the variety erythroneura G.S.Bunting [1]. The North Carolina State University Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox provides the only institutional record naming the cultivar and associating it with a foliar description [2].

No plant patent, no published protologue, no botanical garden accession record, and no society publication specifically covering 'Lemon Lime' has been located. The registry row for this cultivar is classified as nomenclatural evidence only, flagged as unverified against a primary record. 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

Maranta 'Lemon Lime' is a cultivar epithet applied to a plant in the genus Maranta L. (Marantaceae), placed in trade under Maranta leuconeura var. erythroneura G.S.Bunting, an accepted infraspecific taxon per Plants of the World Online. No originator is documented. This cultivar predates any registration authority for Marantaceae.

Genus
Maranta
Species
not attributed
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
Lemon Lime 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. Maranta leuconeura É.Morren. In: Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. First published in Ann. Hort. Belge Étrangère 24: 323 (1874). (n.d.). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:797361-1 Accessed 2026-08-14.
  2. Maranta leuconeura (Cathedral Windows, Herringbone Plant, Prayer Plant, Rabbit Tracks, Red-Veined Prayer Plant). North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox. North Carolina State University. (n.d.). North Carolina State University Cooperative Extension. https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/maranta-leuconeura/ Accessed 2026-08-14.
  3. International Cultivar Registration Authorities (ICRAs). International Society for Horticultural Science. (n.d.). International Society for Horticultural Science (ISHS). https://ishs.org/news/cultivars/ Accessed 2026-08-14.
  4. Maranta leuconeura É.Morren. International Plant Names Index. (n.d.). International Plant Names Index. https://www.ipni.org/n/797361-1 Accessed 2026-08-14.
  5. U.S. Plant Patent PP11962 — Maranta leuconeura plant named 'Beauty Kim'. (n.d.). United States Patent and Trademark Office. https://patents.google.com/patent/USPP11962P2 Accessed 2026-08-14.
  6. U.S. Plant Patent PP24749 — Nandina plant named 'Lemon-Lime'. (n.d.). United States Patent and Trademark Office. https://patents.google.com/patent/USPP24749 Accessed 2026-08-14.

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