Peacock plant
Sources last read 14 September 2026.
Difficult One of the harder ones, and one of the reasons the diagnosis tool exists.
Also called brain plant, cathedral windows and Peacock Calathea.
Toxicity is partly unassessed
What the sources say about its care
Sources file this plant under other names: Calathea spp. (ASPCA, genus only). Citations below point at the name its source uses.
- Light
- Partial shadeRHS · read 11 September 2026
- Water
- Moist but well-drainedRHS · read 11 September 2026
- Humidity
No source read publishes a humidity figure for any plant on this site. What follows is general guidance for foliage plants.
ASHRAE recommends indoor relative humidity between 30% and 60% 30–60%Penn State Extension · read 11 September 2026- Temperature
How cold this tolerates, not what it prefers. No source read for this site publishes a preferred range for a plant indoors.
H1A — warmer than 15°C 15 °CRHS · read 11 September 2026- Soil
- Chalk, Clay, Loam, Sand; pH Acid or Alkaline or NeutralRHS · read 11 September 2026
- Toxic to cats
- Listed as non-toxicASPCA names the genus (Calathea spp.), not the species.ASPCA, filed as Calathea spp. · read 11 September 2026
- Toxic to dogs
- Listed as non-toxicASPCA names the genus (Calathea spp.), not the species.ASPCA, filed as Calathea spp. · read 11 September 2026
- Harmful to people
- No harm statement is published for this plant; that absence is not evidence it is safe.RHS · read 11 September 2026
How it usually goes wrong
- Leaf tips go crisp and brown
Tips first on a peacock plant, then margins. Affected tissue is papery and slightly curled, and the damage stops rather than advancing once conditions change.
Heated air holds less water than the plant loses into it, so moisture leaves the leaf faster than it arrives. Penn State Extension cites ASHRAE's indoor range of 30% to 60% relative humidity, and winter heating often takes a room below it.
Telling it apart: Whether the damage advances. Dry air marks a leaf and stops; rot keeps going.
Penn State ExtensionDiagnose brown tips and edges on this Peacock plant- New leaves arrive smaller and paler than the ones below
The peacock plant looks sparse rather than sick: fewer leaves, spaced further apart, all angled toward the window.
Placed darker than the partial shade its source describes, the plant invests in length rather than leaf, because length is what finds a window.
Telling it apart: Whether old growth is affected. Light shows in what arrives next; feeding shows in what is already there.
RHSPeacock plant leaves turning yellow: causes- Soft yellow leaves low on the plant, soil still wet
A sour smell from the compost is common on a peacock plant, and the outer leaves come away when pulled. The surface may look dry while everything beneath it is not.
Its source calls for soil that is moist but well-drained. Past that, water in the pot displaces the air the roots need, and damaged roots then fail to supply the leaves above them.
Telling it apart: Whether the compost has dried at all since the last watering. A pot that has not dried in a fortnight is answering the question on its own.
RHSPeacock plant leaves turning yellow: causes
Not sure which it is? Ask the diagnosis questions for Peacock plant.
Routine care
- Watering
- Water with distilled water or rainwater, because fluoride in tap water can turn leaves brown. In winter, water less and stop feeding.NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
- Feeding
- Feed with a balanced fertilizer every 4 weeks in the growing season. In winter, water less and stop feeding.NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
- Propagation
- Propagate preferably by dividing the rhizomatous roots in late spring.NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026Divide in late spring.RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Pruning
- Pruning is not needed.RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Pests and diseases
- Can be troubled by glasshouse red spider mite and aphids. Diseases: usually none.RHS · read 13 September 2026
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Photographs
About the plant
Goeppertia makoyana, also known as peacock plant or cathedral windows, is a species of plant belonging to the genus Goeppertia in the family Marantaceae, native to Espírito Santo state of eastern Brazil. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · read 13 September 2026
- Native range
- Brazil (Espírito Santo)World Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026Brazil (Espírito Santo)NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026BrazilRHS · read 13 September 2026
- Climate
- wet tropicalWorld Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026
- Growth form
- perennialWorld Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026Perennial; habit clumping, erectNC State Extension · read 13 September 2026Bushy (evergreen)RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Size
- Height 12–24 in; width 8–12 inNC State Extension · read 13 September 2026Height 0.1-0.5 metres; spread 0.1-0.5 metres after 5–10 yearsRHS · read 13 September 2026
- Flowering
- Flowers green, insignificant, purple/lavender, variegated, white; blooms in summerNC State Extension · read 13 September 2026Flowers purple in summer; white in summerRHS · read 13 September 2026
Common problems with Peacock plant
Other Goeppertia
Alberta Prayer PlantSourced care, difficulty not yet judged
Calathea MedallionSourced care, difficulty not yet judged
Eternal Flame PlantSourced care, difficulty not yet judged
Furry Feather CalatheaSourced care, difficulty not yet judged
Goeppertia bachemianaSourced care, difficulty not yet judged
Goeppertia coccineaSourced care, difficulty not yet judged
More of the Marantaceae family
Prayer plantLeaf tips go crisp and brown
ArrowrootSourced care, difficulty not yet judged
BamburantaSourced care, difficulty not yet judged
Ctenanthe amabilisSourced care, difficulty not yet judged
Fishbone prayer plantsSourced care, difficulty not yet judged
Giant BamburantaSourced care, difficulty not yet judged
Plants with similar care
Elephant earCrisp margins that appear in winter
Moth orchidCrisp margins that appear in winter
Nerve plantDry, curled edges on leaves near a heater
Rex begoniaBrown brittle margins with a green centre
AlocasiaBrown brittle margins with a green centre
- No photograph yetVenus flytrapA thin dry rim that crumbles between the fingers
Sources
- ASPCA · read 11 September 2026
- Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026
- NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
- Penn State Extension · read 11 September 2026
- RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Wikipedia · read 13 September 2026
What this does not cover
The figures above are what published sources say, not measurements of the plant in your room. They say nothing about your pot size, your water, the season, or how far from the glass the plant stands, and those decide more than any figure here does.
Humidity has no species figure because no source read for this site publishes one, and the only temperature published for this plant is a cold floor. The simulator fills those gaps with general figures for its kind of plant, marked as general and listed on how we read sources. Where a toxicity row says the plant was not assessed, that is the absence of a finding and not a finding of safety.
If something is already wrong, the diagnosis tool asks about the soil, the window and the watering, which is where the answer usually is.