Spotted flowers on our Calathea Lutea. We had them since we moved into Kemuning Palma, 15 months ago.
Counted 6 blooms at 3 to 4 feet high. Each bloom, 7-inch long, sprouts on a new stem midway from the leave's stem. The leave stem supports the bloom. It offers some kind of juicy sweet liquid attracting small black ants.
They make a decent wall obscuring view from front and patio to the yard (or laundry drying area) and allowing breeze to pass. It's leaves fans on each others, like soft tapping sound - an alternative to wind chimes. Really relaxing.
Calathea Lutea (Cigar) has large ribbed leaves grows at majestic height of 6 to 10 feet. Its inflorescence is the alternating 8-inch bract of reddish/brown to tan with yellow flowers. Cigar shaped which is name derived - from Aloha Tropicals.
Amazonian ethnobotanical dictionary by James A. Duke, Rodolfo Vasque wrote Calathea Lutea leaves are used as wrapping to cook "tamales" and also to make tortillas. Cooked roots to control nausea and diarrhea. Resinous wax extracted with solvents for similar use of wax.
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