Cryptocoryne spiralis var. spiralis

A narrow-leaved crypt growing along riverbanks and in seasonally flooded places of southern India and Bangladesh. Its name comes from the spathe, twisted up to five times; it is historically the first crypt ever described (1779, under the name Arum spirale). Before it flowers, above water it is nearly indistinguishable from plants of the C. crispatula group, for instance C. albida. The most widespread crypt in India and the most variable of the species' four varieties.

For this variety difficulty is easy; for the species as a whole it is medium. Old imports were hard to keep and only marginally suited to the aquarium. Today the form most often seen in aquariums is one imported from India in the 1990s: it grows very readily and multiplies easily by numerous offshoots. Growth medium, light from dim to strong, CO₂ 10–40 mg/l, temperature 23–28 °C.

Background and midground, specimen.

Another form — with very long ribbon-like, brownish underwater leaves — arrived in the 1970s under the name 'Cryptocoryne retrospiralis' and closely resembles C. crispatula var. flaccidifolia; it is also undemanding.