Bolbitis heteroclita 'difformis'

Bolbitis heteroclita

A dwarf form of dwarf African fern from the island of Negros (Philippines), described as far back as 1952 as a separate species, Edanyoa difformis. Underwater it grows very slowly, and its leaves are smaller and more coarsely divided than on land.

Light: low–high
Difficulty: medium
Temperature: 18 – 28 °C (64 – 82 °F)

Leaf colour: green
Plant type: rhizome
Growth rate: slow
Tolerates light: low – high
pH: 5 – 7
Carbonate hardness: 0 – 14 °dKH
General hardness: 0 – 30 °dGH
Placement: on stone and wood +3 on stone and wood, midground, nano tank, foreground
Propagation: plantlets on leaves +3 plantlets on leaves, rhizome division, division, daughter plants
Grows emersed: yes

Appearance

Creeping horizontal stems form a carpet over time, no taller than 7 cm, of finely feathery, parsley-like leaves — they look best on land, in damp soil. Underwater it grows very slowly, and the leaves are noticeably smaller and more coarsely divided than above water; less vigorous than 'cuspidata'.

Keeping

Difficulty medium, growth very slow, light from dim to strong, CO₂ 15–40 mg/l, temperature 23–28 °C. Propagation: young plants on the leaves, dividing the horizontal stem. It grows best as a land plant in moderately damp soil — it does very well in warm, humid terrariums and paludariums.

Placement

Tied to hardscape, midground and foreground, nano aquarium.

Trade names

Sold as 'Mini-Bolbitis', Bolbitis sp. 'Baby leaf', 'Davallia spec.', 'Bolbitis Davallia spec.'; it has nothing to do with the genus Davallia. Under the name 'Mini-Bolbitis' small filmy ferns are sometimes sold as well — whether they suit an aquarium is unclear. It has long been in garden cultivation, and its suitability for an aquarium was discovered only recently.

Water conditions match

The water suits 855 of 1249 species in the catalogue — these are the ones people look up most often.

Butterflyfish Julii Corydoras Featherfin Synodontis Red-finned Parotocinclus Gastromyzon monticola Egg-shaped Goldfish Flame Tetra Gardner's Killifish African Tetra Hypsolebias picturatus Common Zacco Labeo Bicolor Gambusia Flying barb Gastromyzon scitulus Albino Zebra Danio Geophagus Brokopondo Homaloptera bilineata Red-tailed Rasbora Boraras naevus Lampeye Killifish Spotted Raphael Catfish Corydoras melanotaenia Festivum cichlid

Will eat this plant

These species damage plants, especially when their diet is short of vegetable food.

Bengal Loach Zebra Loach Burmese Border Loach Emperor Botia Marbled Headstander Pellegrin's Leporinus Leporinus striatus False Black Tetra Common Metynnis Mylossoma duriventre Red Whiptail Catfish Moonlight Gourami Melanotaenia parva

Matching water does not mean the fish will leave the plant alone.

Scientific and other names, conservation status

Other scientific names: Bolbitis cuspidata (Presl) Ching, Edanyoa difformis Copeland, Acrostichum flagelliferum, Acrostichum heteroclitum, Acrostichum modestum, Acrostichum proliferum, Bolbitis annamensis, Bolbitis cuspidata, Bolbitis edanyoi, Bolbitis flagellifera, Bolbitis foxworthyi, Bolbitis koidzumiana, Bolbitis koidzumii, Bolbitis membranacea, Bolbitis modesta, Bolbitis nigra, Bolbitis pseudoscalpturata, Bolbitis pseudosculpturata, Bolbitis scandens, Bolbitis simplicifolia, Bolbitis stenophylla, Bolbitis tenuissima, Campium cuspidatum, Campium foxworthyi, Campium heteroclitum, Campium heteroclitum eurybasis, Campium membranaceum, Campium modestum, Campium nigrum, Campium pseudoscalpturatum, Campium tenuissimum, Chrysodium cuspidatum, Chrysodium flagelliferum, Chrysodium heteroclitum, Chrysodium heteroclitum subcrenatum, Cyrtogonium acuminatum, Cyrtogonium flagelliferum, Gymnopteris flagellifera, Heteroneuron cuspidatum, Heteroneuron heteroclitum, Heteroneurum cuspidatum, Leptochilus cuspidatus, Leptochilus cuspidatus normalis, Leptochilus heteroclitus, Leptochilus heteroclitus eurybasis, Leptochilus heteroclitus foxworthyi, Leptochilus modestus, Leptochilus simplicifolius, Leptochilus sumatranus, Nephrodium cuspidatum, Phegopteris heteroclita, Poecilopteris flagellifera, Poecilopteris heteroclita, Poecilopteris stenophylla, Polystichum cuspidatum
Bolbitis heteroclita: (C. Presl) Ching
Family: Dryopteridaceae