Leaf colourgreen, red +1
stem plant on stone and wood semi-emersed midground foreground Conservation status: LC
An unusual plant with deeply cut brown-olive leaves and a wine-red underside. It is the rare stem plant that grows tied to wood or stone as well as in the substrate.
- Light
- medium
- Difficulty
- medium
- Height
- 5 – 40 cm
- Temperature
- 18 – 28 °C
Parameters
Plant typestem plant
Growth ratemedium
CO₂ demandmedium
Tolerates lightmedium – high
pH5 – 8
Carbonate hardness2 – 12 °dKH
General hardness0 – 30 °dGH
Placementon stone and wood +3
Propagationrunners +4
Grows emersedyes
Appearance
Leaves cut into lobes like an oak leaf, patched brown and olive above and burgundy underneath. Height ranges from 5 to 40 cm: pinched back it stays low and spreads sideways, left alone it grows upwards.
Keeping
Moderate demands. It needs decent light for the colour and answers well to carbon dioxide; in dim light it turns plain green and stretches. Old leaves sometimes develop small holes — that is a shortage of fertiliser, not a disease.
Placement
The middle of the tank, either planted or tied to wood or stone — the side shoots grip a surface by themselves. A group of a few plants against a plain background shows the leaf colour best.
Propagation
It sends out horizontal side shoots; cut one off with its roots and tie or plant it elsewhere. Pinching the tops makes more of these shoots.
Fish and this plant
Water conditions match
The water suits 1025 of 1249 species in the catalogue — these are the ones people look up most often.
Swordtail GuppiesCobra GuppyBlood Red MollyButterflyfishRed Zebra CichlidJulii CorydorasFeatherfin SynodontisRed-finned ParotocinclusGastromyzon monticolaEgg-shaped GoldfishFlame TetraGardner's KillifishAfrican TetraKenyi CichlidCuckoo CatfishGolden SwordtailHypsolebias picturatusCommon ZaccoLabeo BicolorGambusiaFlying barbGastromyzon scitulusAlbino Zebra DanioGeophagus Brokopondo
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
Cultivars
The same plant with a different look: light, water and care are shared with the species.
Other varieties: Hygrophila pinnatifida & moss, Hygrophila pinnatifida Uttara Kannada, Hygrophila Pinnatifida 'UK'