Images may show mature specimens and are provided as a guide only. As plants are living products, the size, shape and appearance of the stock supplied may vary from the images shown.
Nursery Direct
Yellow Rattleshaker
Calathea crotalifera
Everything is included in this price: the plant, free delivery and professional installation
The price you see is the whole job: the plant supplied, delivered free and professionally installed. Done for you.
Supplied in 400mmtypically 1.5 to 2.5m tall on delivery
Want to see the actual plant?
The photo shows this species, not the individual plant reserved for you. Send us an enquiry and we usually reply within 1 business day with photos of the actual stock available in the size you want.
Request photosGetting it in: this size needs about 900mm of clear access. Measure the narrowest point on the route and tell us on the booking call. Standard access is included in the price, and anything unusual is quoted and agreed with you before work begins. What happens on installation day
Looking for a larger size?
Sizes shown are the sizes we currently source in this species. If you need larger specimens, project quantities or a size not listed, our sourcing team can look for it through our national supplier network. We confirm your exact stock with you on the booking call before anything ships.
Send An EnquiryYou order. We do the rest.
After checkout, our team contacts you to confirm site access and book a day that suits. Most orders are delivered and planted within 2 to 4 weeks of your booking call. Nothing else for you to organise.
Registered Australian business, ABN 33 683 675 603. Public liability certificates available on request.
Product Details
Overview & Specifications
Price includes everything: the plant, free delivery and professional installation by our planting team. One price, whole job done.
Yellow Rattleshaker - Calathea crotalifera
The flower is the reason to grow this one. Calathea crotalifera produces flattened, two-ranked inflorescences of overlapping waxy yellow bracts held above the foliage, stacked so they genuinely resemble a rattlesnake's rattle, and they last for weeks. Beneath them the plant forms a tall clump of broad, long-stemmed paddle leaves. It is a wet tropical understorey plant, so in Australia it belongs in shaded, humid, frost-free gardens in Queensland and northern New South Wales, or in a protected courtyard further south.
Why Yellow Rattleshaker
Bract Display: Flat, fanned yellow bracts held clear of the leaves are long lasting and unlike any other shade plant.
Clumping Height: Reaches genuine screening height for a shade perennial, filling vertical space under a canopy.
Broad Foliage: Large oval leaves on long stems give a lush, layered tropical texture in deep shade.
Cut Flower Value: The bracts hold well when cut and are used in tropical floristry.
Shade Performance: Genuinely prefers low light, so it solves the difficult dark corners other feature plants will not fill.
Ideal Applications
Shaded Understorey: Massed beneath palms and rainforest trees where light levels are too low for flowering shrubs.
Tropical Courtyard Screen: A clump along a shaded wall creates a soft green divider with seasonal colour.
Poolside Shade Bed: Bold foliage in a sheltered, humid position beside water.
Large Interior Planter: Suits atriums and covered light wells with high humidity and bright indirect light.
Specimen & Installation
Spacing (screening/hedge): 0.8 to 1.2m
Spacing (feature/avenue): 1.5 to 2m
Best Planting Season: Spring and early summer, or the start of the wet season in the tropics
Soil & Drainage: Rich, humus-heavy, consistently moist but free-draining soil, slightly acidic, with plenty of compost worked in
Establishment Care: Keep the root zone evenly moist at all times, as calatheas brown at the leaf edges the moment they dry out or are hit by hard water. Mulch thickly with leaf litter or composted material, shelter from wind and frost, and cut spent stems to the base to keep the clump fresh.
Plant Details
Height: 1.5 to 3m
Width: 1 to 2m, spreading slowly by rhizome
Growth Rate: Moderate to fast in warm humid conditions
Foliage: Evergreen in frost-free climates
Light: Part to full shade, with protection from direct sun
Native to: Wet tropical forests of Central and South America
Flower Colour: Yellow bracts with small white to cream flowers
Delivery & Installation
Delivery and installation are included in your price
No freight calculators and no separate installation quote for a standard installation. Your price covers specialist plant transport, positioning and professional planting by our installation team. The whole job, handled.
- Wrapped, secured and transported by specialist plant freight.
- Professionally planted, staked and finished by our install team.
- Our team confirms site access and schedules a time that suits you.
Installation
Professional installation included, never extra
Every plant we sell is planted by our professional installation team, and it's already in the price. We coordinate the delivery, the machinery and the planting for standard site access, so your only job is choosing the tree. Unusual access or engineering requirements? We'll confirm everything with you after checkout before any work begins.
Questions? Send An EnquiryWhy Nursery Direct
Every price includes supply, delivery and installation
Buying a mature tree often means three separate jobs: the plant, the freight and finding someone to plant it. We price the whole job as one: the tree, the delivery and the professional install.
- One price: supplied, delivered and installed
- Mature trees and specimen palms at every scale
- National sourcing for hard-to-find stock
- Residential, estate and commercial projects
How It Works
Place your order. We do the rest.
We Supply
Premium advanced stock, selected from a national network of wholesale growers.
We Deliver
Specialist plant freight brings your order to your door. Free, anywhere in Australia.
We Install
Our professional team plants, stakes, mulches and finishes the job on site.







