Alligator Flag, Fireflag Marantaceae. Also known as Maranta geniculata. Plant Specifics

Thalia geniculata, the bent alligator-flag, [3] arrowroot, [4] or fire-flag, [4] is a plant species widespread across tropical Africa and much of the Americas. Thalia geniculata is native to a large region in Africa, from Senegal in the west to Sudan in the east, south to Zimbabwe and Angola.

Bold and tropical looking, Thalia geniculata 'Ruminoides' (Red Stemmed Alligator-Flag) is a marginal aquatic perennial forming a dramatic clump of long-stalked, erect, paddle-shaped, lime-green leaves that can reach up to 24 in. in length (60 cm).

It is a wetland plant, with large, lance-like leaves and produces purplish flowers on top of long stalks during the summer and fall. Besides acting as magnets for gallinules, fire flag is host to the Brazilian skipper butterfly; adults lay eggs on the leaves, which are later eaten by the hatched caterpillars (see photo, bottom right).

Dec 3, 2024 · Fire flag is a large emersed plant that grows from a thick rhizome. It grows in swamps and wet ditches from the peninsula west to the central panhandle of Florida (Wunderlin, 2003). It blooms from summer to fall and occurs almost always (estimated probability 99%) under natural conditions in wetlands.

These plants can (and prefer to) grow with their roots and rhizomes fully submerged and their foliage growing emersed from the water's surface. They thrive in floodplains, vernal pools and other seasonally-inundated areas, as well. Alligator-flag is a …

Oct 28, 2020 · Thalia geniculata, the bent alligator-flag, [3] arrowroot, [4] or fire-flag, [4] is a plant species widespread across tropical Africa and much of the Americas. Thalia geniculata is native to a large region in Africa, from Senegal in the west to Sudan in …

The common name Alligator Flag is derived from its use in spotting alligators. The unexpected movement of the leaves is sometimes a sign that an alligator is swimming below.

Alligatorflag (Thalia geniculata), also known as Fireflag, is a water-loving plant that can be found in marshes and other wet areas throughout most of the Florida peninsula and scattered areas in the Florida panhandle.

Nov 21, 2012 · Thalia geniculata, as it’s known to botanists, is a a tall (up to 10 ft or more at the nutrient-rich waters of these two created wetlands) plant with a long flower stem growing up from a cluster of basal leaves.