Hyptis

Hyptis lorentziana

A South American marsh plant that spent years in the hobby under an invented name. Under water it stays moderate in size; in the wild it grows two metres tall and its flowers pull in bees.

Light: high
Difficulty: medium
Temperature: 18 – 30 °C (64 – 86 °F)

Leaf colour: red
Plant type: stem plant
Growth rate: fast
General hardness: 0 – 30 °dGH
Placement: red accent, background +2 red accent, background, midground, Dutch street
Propagation: cuttings
Grows emersed: yes

Appearance

Paired leaves on an upright stem, with warm reddish tones under strong light. Underwater growth is far smaller and softer than the coarse marsh form.

Keeping

Moderate demands, with strong light the main one — it is what brings out the colour. Growth is fast and the plant needs regular trimming. It is hard to find: outside a few collections it is barely traded at all.

Placement

The middle or back of the tank, in a group; its even upright habit also suits the ordered rows of a Dutch layout.

Propagation

By cuttings: cut the top and plant it.

Water conditions match

The water suits 1015 of 1249 species in the catalogue — these are the ones people look up most often.

Swordtail Guppies Cobra Guppy Blood Red Molly Butterflyfish Red Zebra Cichlid Julii Corydoras Red-finned Parotocinclus Gastromyzon monticola Egg-shaped Goldfish Flame Tetra Gardner's Killifish African Tetra Kenyi Cichlid Cuckoo Catfish Golden Swordtail Hypsolebias picturatus Common Zacco Labeo Bicolor Gambusia Flying barb Gastromyzon scitulus Albino Zebra Danio Geophagus Brokopondo Zebra Mbuna

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 Molly sphenops Balloon Molly Lyretail Molly Marble Molly Hi-Fin Platy Hawaii Platy Blue Platy Pintail Platy Black Platy Chocolate Molly Moonlight Gourami Melanotaenia parva

Will uproot it

These species dig through the substrate and pull rooted plants out.

Marble Loach Peacock Eel Forktail Loach Guntea Loach Long-nosed Loach Horseface Loach Pearlscale Black Moor Goldfish Shubunkin Painted Pleco Featherfin Synodontis Reddish Mystus Catfish Blue Acara Aulonocara maylandi Aulonocara multicolor Aulonocara Orchid Geophagus altifrons Geophagus winemilleri Pearlscale Cichlid Pearl Cichlid Redbelly Cichlid Red-spotted Cichlid Chuco godmanni Haplochromis philander Red Chromide Jack Dempsey cichlid

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

The same plant with a different look: light, water and care are shared with the species.

Other varieties: Hyptis lorentziana Topf

Scientific and other names, conservation status

Other scientific names: Hyptis sp., Hyptis barbarensis, Hyptis czermakii, Hyptis idiocephala, Hyptis paraguayensis, Mesosphaerum barbarense, Mesosphaerum idiocephalum, Mesosphaerum lorentzianum, Mesosphaerum paraguayense
Hyptis lorentziana: O. Hoffm.
Family: Lamiaceae

Hyptis

Tank conditions

Care and keeping