Maranta 'lleuconeura'...the 'prayer plant', also known as
'rabbit tracks' does indeed resemble"Calathea" maranta to which it closely related.
But there are distinct differences; in the color and distinguishing marks on the leaves and I don't believe the calathea folds its leaves at night like the maranta does.

This plant was discussed for a while here on this forum back in '99 - 2000.
Someone was looking for it then....I think it was RedRobin...(does anyone know what happened to her?) and if I recall correctly she did end up buying it via ebay, but she sort of 'disappeared' shortly after that!

It's been on ebay a couple of times since then....and I recall it has gone really high!

I've never seen it offered for sale, either.

Really? Rats! Is it harder to grow than the other Marantas, I wonder? This picture was taken at Wave Hill in NY. I could try to ask them I suppose.
At Gflora, it is called Maranta leuconeura "Massangeana" but to search that name, all the other varieties appear too.
I emailed Exotic Angel to see if the have it. It is on their website.
Jerrycan, I did try to search and see if it appeared somewhere under Calathea but I wasn't successful.

Here is a link that might be useful: Black Maranta @ Exotic Angel

I'm still looking. I thought I would follow up with this information just to show how confusing the names are. This description is from the University of Florida and matches the label found on this plant.

"Maranta leuconeura `Leuconeura', the silver feather maranta or black maranta, has a light grayish blue green central zone and radiating lateral veins which extend through a greenish black outer background. This cultivar is rather rare in the trade, but very attractive."

Here is a link that might be useful: University of Florida

i believe i have this...last year i found a single plant of maranta in an everyday store.. here in england..it was hidden away at the bottom... i knew i had found a real gem.. the leaves have white ribs... dark blotches in between... sometimes turning black... the background is a fresh minty blue when the leaves unfurl..i am nurturing it.. love it!

Congratulations! I am jealous! Would love to see a picture if you ever get a chance.
I have been wondering if I was mistaken about the ID of this plant as far as being Black Marantha. I say this because I had a green variety that I cut all the way back each fall and I believe the leaves start off this way when they first grow out of the soil and turn normal green as they lengthen. I noticed that after I created this post. I have to see if I took any pictures. This winter, I cut them in the spring instead of the fall and it seems like that was a mistake because the plants aren't growing back.

I've seen this plant at a big box hardware store grown by (as previously stated) Exotic Angel. You might want to check those if other sources fail.

i am thinkng that as it matures and sprouts from soil levvel i will get more definition in the white in middle ...because it surprised me when that shoot emerged about a month ago from the soil.. that it had the brown blotches... i had thought i had an all green variety... i suppose time will tell.PAUL.

Always make the rounds at the big box store. Never know what you will find. I've contacted Exotic Angel in the past and it wasn't in production but now I see they added a picture to the website so maybe...
Paul, it does look like you might have it. Thanks for posting it. I'll keep looking. You know, sometimes it just is about the hunt, isn't it?

Here is a link that might be useful: Black Maranta at Exotic Angel

hi loretta,
i'm not in the states...haven't heard of big box store... i got this in a store called wilkinsons which is a place which sells many things...i just went to the plant section one afternoon... and got down on my knees to view the lowest shelf... and there it was... only this at the very back...

i knew it was different..hope it is the black one... i've only recently begun to think it might be..as i watch how the leaves are changing..i wasnt even lookking at the time i found it..but had read your post way back when..will keep you posted.

if you enlarge your original pic... and see the littlest leaf at the back.... i think thats where i'm getting to with colour.. but leaves can vary depending on enviroment.

Big box stores is just a general name for large franchises that buy in bulk such as Home Depot, Target and Walmart.
Do you think your maranta might be Maranta marisela? It's hard for me to tell from your picture but it is one of the marantas I've found while looking around. It isn't easy to find around here but it appears here and there maybe once a year.
{{gwi:101428}}

I've also found Maranta amagris which did really well until this winter. The leaves just started curling and it died. I haven't found this one since I bought it a few years ago.

{{gwi:101429}}

Then I picked up Kim which is easy to find.
{{gwi:101431}}

Finally, here is the green variety putting out new growth.
{{gwi:101433}}

hi loretta.. no its definetly not marisela... thats another one i wanted and i got someone to ship it to me from u.s.a.. an online friend... cos the company didnt ship here... so he wasnt into plants and it arrived in very poor shape now all leaves gone and i just got a stem..and kim too was in that shipment... thats variegated type of the green cultivar..this one in question if not black maranta , it isnt any of the for-mentioned... maybe it's something in between... i like your small leaved one...i succeed very well usualy with marantas... been growing them since i was 15..but im not so good with calathea etc....really this one is much prettier than i can show in pic..its got sea green kind of colour

forgot to mention; super looking plants you have;)

I see a cryptanthus. =)

Here is a link that might be useful: shameless plug

hi asleep,
i dont see the connection re; this thread

closer view... in reality it appears black

Sorry Vino,..

I just couldn't help noticing the cryptanthus in Loretta's second pic posted yesterday.

...Think of it as an uncontrolled outburst(I have those sometimes). :)

no worries, sleep...
i noticed the plant you were talking about after i posted that..silly me.

I couldn't comment on the maranta...those things just die at the sight of me for some reason. Mangaged to keep them alright in terraria but wow...they DON'T like it outside once they've had the luxury of high humidity and acclimating them to less has been next to impossible for me so even though they're beautiful,I just can't seem to keep them.

A wall sized wardian case just filled with them would be awesome though! :)

This post was edited by asleep_in_the_garden on Fri, Jun 14, 13 at 11:36

Yes, asleep - it is the only one I have and it still lives. I will visit your shameless plug! lol!
Paul - your leaf does look like some of the leaves on the Exotic Angel site so I think you found it! Now I have to renew my search! Do you think the first photo I posted is Black Maranta as it first emerges from the soil or do you think it is the green? The original plant was no longer at Wave Hill when I went back so I can't check on it.
I agree that calathea are much fussier than maranta. I've had great luck with maranta until last year when the marasela developed leaf spot, something I never had before. I threw it out but maybe too late. They are still alive but barely. I cut them all down. If I find replacements, I'll throw them all out.

hi to both,
i found on this site there is a pic... similar to mine,, but it doesnt say the variety..

http://www.scoopweb.com/Prayer_Plant

asleep,
sorry to hear marantas die with you, i too lost a few in the past yet also had some that thrived.. i think a lot the time it can depend on the treatment they had prior to purchase... i only use rainwater and also spray them with rainwater.i have found that their leaves progress quickly if they are in the steamy kitchen... so i moved my "black" to top of refidgerator.. and it gets a lot of humidity when i'm cooking.and asleep,, a wall sized wardian case would look fantastic indeed and if you have the "black" i think a lockk needed ..lol

loretta,
in answer to your question,
it seems that is what is generaly known as black maranta.
i think that pic shows it emerging from soil ..i think also maranta are greatly influence in colour by the enviroment..thus we see leaves of various tones..i have a large leaf unfurling now ,and i am keen to see how it looks..the older leaves get very black... i was surprised when i got brown blotches... i thought i had quite a unique plant.. but it has the white vveins as opposed to green in the standard green variety and has a blueish background..then i started to think maybe this is black maranta... and felt a tad disappointed lol...but now i amhappy with that idea... whatever it is ...it is certainly not standard or common.

the "real name" of Black Leuconeura" is Silver Feather !!

Is it? It usually turns up a photo of 'Silver Band'. Silver Band does look like it is a variety of Black Maranta. By the way, 13 years later I can say the original photos were of Black Maranta. Houzz removed the links but here are the original photos in question from 2008 taken at Wave Hill in the Bronx. The plant is not there anymore.

As a further follow up here, VinoviaPaul's maranta pictures seems to be labeled online as Maranta NOID, an unnamed form.

Although I found one Russian reference calling it the species form of Maranta leuconeura. I haven't found any back up for that claim. I also haven't found a botanical sketch of that form yet either like there are of the other forms.

https://iplants.ru/maranta.htm