Overview
Plants of the World Online (POWO), maintained by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, records the accepted species Maranta leuconeura É.Morren as native to Central and Eastern Brazil, growing primarily in the wet tropical biome [1]. The species was first published by Morren in Annales d'Horticulture Belge et Étrangère 24: 323 in 1874 [1]. Unlike the allied genus Calathea, the bulk of whose species were transferred to Goeppertia Nees in 2012, Maranta leuconeura was not affected by that recircumscription and its accepted name has remained stable [1].
The horticultural name 'Kerchoveana' refers botanically to material of Maranta leuconeura. The epithet derives from two nineteenth-century names, Maranta kerchoveana É.Morren and Maranta leuconeura var. kerchoveana É.Morren, both published by Morren in Annales de Botanique et d'Horticulture 29: 77 in 1879, and both recorded by POWO as synonyms of the accepted species [1]. The USDA ARS Biocollections Taxonomy records Maranta leuconeura var. kerchoveana as a recognised variant within the species, consistent with the POWO synonymy treatment [4].
The registry records this page under the class 'cultivar', but a registry conflict has been noted: POWO treats the underlying names as botanical synonyms of Maranta leuconeura, and no ICNCP-compliant cultivar registration has been located. A human reviewer is required to resolve whether the entity is more accurately characterised as a trade name or informal horticultural designation rather than a formally registered cultivar.
Name Classes
Three name classes are distinguished in the Digital Towns registry: the registered cultivar epithet, any trade designation, and any patent denomination.
Registered cultivar epithet. The International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants (ICNCP) requires a cultivar epithet to be enclosed in single quotation marks and published with a description. No such publication establishing 'Kerchoveana' as an ICNCP-compliant cultivar epithet has been located [2]. No International Cultivar Registration Authority has been appointed for Marantaceae; the ISHS cultivar registration page, as accessed in August 2026, lists appointed authorities for numerous genera and families, but Marantaceae and its constituent genera do not appear among them [2]. The epithet is documented here as a name in trade use whose formal registration status has not been established.
Trade designation. No trade designation distinct from the cultivar epithet 'Kerchoveana' has been identified in any primary record examined.
Patent denomination. No plant patent denomination associated with the name 'Kerchoveana' has been identified. The only USPTO plant patent for Maranta leuconeura identified during research is PP11962, which covers a distinct cultivar named 'Beauty Kim', discovered as a naturally occurring whole-plant mutation in Guatemala, and is unrelated to the 'Kerchoveana' epithet [3]. Patent PP11962 is silent on any name corresponding to 'Kerchoveana' [3].
Origin
No originator is documented. This cultivar predates any registration authority for Marantaceae.
The nineteenth-century botanical name from which the horticultural epithet derives was published by Édouard Morren in 1879 in a horticultural journal [1]. The publication context is horticultural rather than the product of field collection. No originating breeder, selector, or institution has been identified in any primary record. No derivation (mutation, seedling selection, or hybrid) is documented, and no year or place of establishment as a cultivar appears in any source located.
Documentation and Sources
The primary taxonomic authority for this entity is POWO, which records Maranta leuconeura É.Morren as the accepted species name and treats both 1879 Morren names as synonyms, on the basis of the World Checklist of Monocotyledons (Govaerts 2004) [1]. No plant patent, registered cultivar description, or botanical garden publication specifically addressing plants sold under the 'Kerchoveana' epithet has been identified.
A peer-reviewed study by Scaramuzzi et al. (1992), published in the Comptes Rendus des Séances de la Société de Biologie et de ses Filiales (186(5): 458-469), documents in vitro propagation of Maranta leuconeura under controlled conditions, confirming that the species was the subject of scientific propagation research by that date [5]. That study addresses the species as a whole and does not isolate plants sold under the 'Kerchoveana' epithet. Digital Towns is an applicant and aggregator; it is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or accredited by the ISHS or any appointed ICRA [2].
Limited authoritative sources available; further research needed.