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Marantochloa purpurea is a large, sometimes climbing herb from tropical Africa that grows from a spreading rhizome and is valued locally for its leaves and stems. It needs warm, humid, shaded conditions similar to a moist forest floor.
Marantochloa purpurea is a species of plant in the family Marantaceae. It is found in tropical Africa, where its natural habitat is moist lowland forest. The leaf stems are used for various purposes including making string, baskets, mats and traps and the leaves are used for thatching, and for wrapping objects.
Marantochloa purpurea is native to tropical and subtropical, sub-Saharan Africa, its range extending from Sierra Leone to South Sudan, Ethiopia and Uganda, and southward to Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Tanzania, at altitudes of up to 1,500 m (5,000 ft). It grows in both primary and secondary forests, and in swamp and gallery forest, as well as seasonally flooded areas, and even in moist conditions by the roadside.
The stems of this plant are used for making cord for tying and plaiting, and in the making of baskets, mats and traps, and in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the bark is used for similar purposes. The leaves are used for thatching and for wrapping objects; in West Africa, for wrapping cola nuts and preventing them from becoming desiccated, while in Central African Republic, for wrapping cassava cakes. The leaves are gathered from the wild and sold at markets. The pith from inside the stems is used to make brooms, and various parts of the plant are used in traditional medicine.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Marantochloa purpurea by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
