Leaf colourgreen, red
Native range
- Bangladesh
- India
rosette background midground specimen Conservation status: LC
A variety of the spiral water trumpet described in 2013: narrow-leaved and not large, forming a dense group of rosettes thanks to short underground offshoots. The name 'tail-bearing' was given for the thread-like appendage on the spathe.
- Light
- medium
- Difficulty
- medium
- Height
- 20 – 35 cm
- Temperature
- 20 – 30 °C
Parameters
Plant typerosette
Growth ratemedium
CO₂ demandmedium
Tolerates lightlow – high
Carbonate hardness2 – 20 °dKH
Placementbackground, midground +1
Propagationdivision, daughter plants +2
Grows emersedyes
Appearance
Compared to var. spiralis it is fairly small and narrow-leaved: about 15 cm above water, about 30 cm below water. The underwater leaves are limp, light green, linear to narrowly lanceolate, with a smooth to slightly wavy edge, 0.5–0.7 cm wide, up to about 1 cm at most. The name means 'tail-bearing': the tip of the spathe is drawn out into a long thread-like appendage — this is what sets the variety apart from the other three varieties of the species. Height 20–35 cm, width 15–20 cm.
Keeping
Difficulty medium, growth medium, light medium to strong. It produces many underground offshoots, but very short ones — it does not creep across the tank, instead forming a dense group of closely spaced rosettes.
Placement
Background and midground, specimen.
Trade names
Found in a mountain 'shola' forest stream in the Western Ghats at about 1300 m elevation (India, Kerala, Wayanad district); brought to Europe in 1986. It long resisted identification, since the plant did not flower, and it grew in botanical collections and with hobbyists under the provisional name C. spiralis 'Shola forest' — it only flowered in 2012, after which it was described as var. caudigera in 2013. In cultivation for more than 20 years and has proven a fine aquarium plant, but it is almost unknown in the hobby.
Fish and this plant
Water conditions match
The water suits 1014 of 1249 species in the catalogue — these are the ones people look up most often.
Swordtail GuppiesCobra GuppyBlood Red MollyButterflyfishRed Zebra CichlidJulii CorydorasRed-finned ParotocinclusGastromyzon monticolaEgg-shaped GoldfishFlame TetraGardner's KillifishAfrican TetraKenyi CichlidCuckoo CatfishGolden SwordtailHypsolebias picturatusCommon ZaccoLabeo BicolorGambusiaFlying barbGastromyzon scitulusAlbino Zebra DanioGeophagus BrokopondoZebra Mbuna
Will eat this plant
These species damage plants, especially when their diet is short of vegetable food.
Bengal LoachZebra LoachBurmese Border LoachEmperor BotiaMarbled HeadstanderPellegrin's LeporinusLeporinus striatusFalse Black TetraCommon MetynnisMylossoma duriventreRed Whiptail CatfishMolly sphenopsBalloon MollyLyretail MollyMarble MollyHi-Fin PlatyHawaii PlatyBlue PlatyPintail PlatyBlack PlatyChocolate MollyMoonlight GouramiMelanotaenia parva
Will uproot it
These species dig through the substrate and pull rooted plants out.
Marble LoachPeacock EelForktail LoachGuntea LoachLong-nosed LoachHorseface LoachPearlscaleBlack Moor GoldfishShubunkinPainted PlecoFeatherfin SynodontisReddish Mystus CatfishBlue AcaraAulonocara maylandiAulonocara multicolorAulonocara OrchidGeophagus altifronsGeophagus winemilleriPearlscale CichlidPearl CichlidRedbelly CichlidRed-spotted CichlidChuco godmanniHaplochromis philanderRed ChromideJack Dempsey cichlid