'Grey Star' · ← Goeppertia Updated 2026-08-13

GOEPPERTIA

Goeppertia 'Grey Star'

A Marantaceae cultivar consistently attributed to Ctenanthe setosa in POWO and RHS records, with a registry genus assignment under review.

Overview

The cultivar epithet 'Grey Star' belongs to a rhizomatous perennial in the family Marantaceae. Trade and horticultural sources, including the Royal Horticultural Society plant record for Calathea 'Greystar' (accession 59784), consistently attribute this cultivar to Ctenanthe setosa (Roscoe) Eichler [3]. Plants of the World Online (POWO), maintained by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, accepts Ctenanthe setosa (Roscoe) Eichler as the valid name, recording the species as a perennial growing primarily in the wet tropical biome with a native range of eastern and southern Brazil [1].

The Digital Towns registry currently places this cultivar under Goeppertia Nees (genus_id=5). This placement reflects a genus-level conflict: the circumscription published by Borchsenius, Suárez and Prince in 2012 transferred 246 species from Calathea G.Mey. to Goeppertia Nees on the basis of molecular phylogenetic evidence demonstrating that Calathea as previously circumscribed was polyphyletic, but it did not subsume Ctenanthe Eichler into Goeppertia — Ctenanthe remained a separate genus [2]. Until a primary record supporting the registry assignment is located, this page retains the registry value while documenting the discrepancy.

Names and Name Classes

Registered epithet. The International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants (ICNCP) requires that a cultivar epithet be enclosed in single quotation marks [4]. The epithet is therefore written 'Grey Star'. The Royal Horticultural Society records it in the variant spelling 'Greystar' under the pre-2012 genus name Calathea (accession 59784) [3]. No authoritative record has been located assigning the epithet 'Grey Star' or 'Greystar' formally to a species-level binomial under either Goeppertia or Ctenanthe in a registration database.

Trade designation. No trade designation distinct from the cultivar epithet has been located. The name 'Grey Star' functions in commerce as the epithet itself; no separate marketing name or trademark has been identified in any primary record consulted.

Patent denomination. No plant patent denomination has been located for this cultivar. A search of USPTO records returned no patent with 'Grey Star' or 'Greystar' as a denomination applied to Ctenanthe setosa or any plant in the Marantaceae family. For comparison, U.S. Plant Patent PP14641 covers a different cultivar, Ctenanthe burle-marxii 'Amagris', confirming that plant patent protection has been sought for Ctenanthe material in the United States, but no analogous record has been identified for 'Grey Star' [6].

Genus-level attribution. The basionym of the species is Phrynium setosum Roscoe; the current combination Ctenanthe setosa (Roscoe) Eichler was established in 1884 [1]. Three genus-level attributions circulate: Ctenanthe setosa, which POWO accepts as valid [1]; Calathea, the pre-2012 usage retained in the RHS record [3]; and Goeppertia, the registry's current assignment. The 2012 revision demonstrates that Ctenanthe species were not among those transferred to Goeppertia [2].

Origin and Authorship

No originator is documented — this cultivar predates any registration authority for Marantaceae.

No International Cultivar Registration Authority has been appointed for Marantaceae [5]. The ISHS Commission on Cultivar Registration, which appoints ICRAs and operates within the provisions of the ICNCP, has not designated any organisation to hold the registration mandate for this family [5]. By contrast, the International Aroid Society is the appointed ICRA for Araceae, a separate family [4]; no equivalent appointment exists for Marantaceae. Limited public data available; further research needed.

Documentation and Research Gaps

The most authoritative sources located for this cultivar are the POWO record for Ctenanthe setosa (Roscoe) Eichler [1] and the RHS Plant Finder entry for Calathea 'Greystar' (accession 59784) [3]. POWO confirms the accepted taxonomy of the parent species, its native range in eastern and southern Brazil, and its wet tropical biome habitat, drawing on the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families maintained by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew [1]. The RHS entry confirms that the cultivar is recognised in formal horticultural documentation in the United Kingdom, but the RHS does not hold an ICRA appointment for Marantaceae or Ctenanthe [3][5].

No authoritative primary-source description of the distinguishing traits of 'Grey Star' — such as a plant patent specification or a formal registration record — has been located. Limited authoritative sources available; further research needed. The genus-level conflict between the registry's assignment of this cultivar to Goeppertia and the consistent attribution to Ctenanthe setosa in POWO [1] and the 2012 Borchsenius, Suárez and Prince revision [2] requires resolution by a human reviewer before the registry entry can be confirmed or corrected.

Registry record

The entries below are the registry rows this article is written from. Each carries its own source, its role, and both dates. A row recorded as nomenclatural evidence is dated documentation of a name in use and is never cited in the prose above.

Registry card

The cultivar epithet 'Grey Star' is attributed in horticultural commerce to Ctenanthe setosa (Roscoe) Eichler, a Marantaceae perennial native to eastern and southern Brazil. The RHS records it as Calathea 'Greystar' (accession 59784). The registry files this cultivar under Goeppertia, a placement that conflicts with the 2012 Borchsenius, Suárez and Prince circumscription. No originator, parentage, or patent has been located.

Genus
Goeppertia
Species
not attributed
Classification
not recorded
Originator
not documented
Established
not documented
Patent
none on record

Name classes

Three name classes with three different legal statuses attach to a cultivated plant: the registered cultivar epithet (governed by the ICNCP, printed in single quotes), any trade designation (a marketing name or trademark, never printed in single quotes), and the patent denomination (the name as published in a plant patent). Conflating them is the most common error in horticultural writing, and it is the one this registry exists to prevent.

NameClassSource
Grey Star Accepted evidence only Digital Towns registry — name in trade use, source verification pending (2026-08-11)
Placeholder record. No authoritative source for this cultivar has been located; Marantaceae has no ICRA and no register. Not citable in prose and does not count toward the indexing threshold. To be replaced by a sourced record from the USPTO -> journals -> dated-catalog research pass.

Origin and parentage

This registry has not located significant documentation to substantiate the origin of this name. No originator, introduction date, or registration record has been found in any source examined — no cultivar registration authority exists for Marantaceae that could have recorded one.

No independent dated documentation has been located to date. What this registry holds is its own record of the name in commercial use, 2026-08-11 — not third-party documentation.

This record is maintained openly and updates as documentation is located. Documented evidence of this cultivar's origin — dated catalogues, listings, or publications — can be submitted for verification.

Patent and propagation status

No plant patent is recorded for this cultivar in this registry. That is not the same as a positive finding that none exists: absence here means we have not located one.

Sources

  1. Govaerts, R. et al. Ctenanthe setosa (Roscoe) Eichler — Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. (n.d.). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew — Plants of the World Online. https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:796415-1 Accessed 2026-08-12.
  2. Borchsenius, F., Suárez, S. and Prince, L.M. (2012). Molecular phylogeny and redefined generic limits of Calathea (Marantaceae). Systematic Botany 37(3): 620–635. (2012-07-01). Systematic Botany / American Society of Plant Taxonomists. https://doi.org/10.1600/036364412X648571 Accessed 2026-08-12.
  3. Calathea 'Greystar' — RHS Plant Finder. Royal Horticultural Society, accession 59784. (n.d.). Royal Horticultural Society. https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/59784/calathea-greystar/details Accessed 2026-08-12.
  4. About — Aroid Cultivar Registry. International Aroid Society (IAS) as appointed ICRA for Araceae. (n.d.). International Aroid Society. https://www.aroidcultivars.org/about Accessed 2026-08-12.
  5. Cultivar Registration — International Society for Horticultural Science (ISHS) Commission on Cultivar Registration. (n.d.). International Society for Horticultural Science. https://ishs.org/scientific-structure/cmnr-cultivar-registration/ Accessed 2026-08-12.
  6. U.S. Plant Patent PP14641 — Ctenanthe burle-marxii cultivar 'Amagris'. USPTO. (n.d.). United States Patent and Trademark Office. https://image-ppubs.uspto.gov/dirsearch-public/print/downloadPdf/PP14641 Accessed 2026-08-12.

DIGITAL TOWNS REGISTRY · PLANTS · REVIEWED 2026-08-13