Leaf colourgreen, red, pink or purple
Native range
- Assam
- Bangladesh
- Bismarck Archipelago
- Cambodia
- Caroline Is.
- China Southeast
- East Himalaya
- Hainan
- India
- Japan
- Jawa
- Korea
- Laos
- Malaya
- Myanmar
- Nansei-shoto
- New Guinea
- Northern Territory
- Philippines
- Queensland
- Sri Lanka
- Taiwan
- Vietnam
- Western Australia
stem plant background midground nano tank foreground Conservation status: LC
A stem plant from flooded rice fields with star-shaped whorls of narrow leaves and a purple underside. In bright light it turns pink and magenta; in dim light it stays a plain olive green.
- Light
- high
- Difficulty
- medium
- Temperature
- 15 – 30 °C
Parameters
Plant typestem plant
Growth ratefast
pH6 – 7
Carbonate hardness2 – 12 °dKH
General hardness0 – 30 °dGH
Placementbackground, midground +2
Propagationcuttings
Grows emersedyes
Appearance
Narrow leaves with toothed edges sit in whorls around the stem, so each level looks like a small green star. Colour depends entirely on light: from olive above and violet beneath to almost wholly ruby.
Keeping
It wants strong light — that is the whole condition, and without it the plant lives but loses its colour and stretches. Fertiliser and carbon dioxide make growth denser. Grown above water in an open tank the leaves are fragrant; the plant is a kitchen herb in Southeast Asia.
Placement
The middle and back of the tank in a group of several stems; the shorter forms suit the front of a nano tank. Nothing should shade it.
Propagation
Cut the top of a stem, strip the lowest whorls and plant it. The cut stem branches out, which is how the group thickens.
Fish and this plant
Water conditions match
The water suits 816 of 1249 species in the catalogue — these are the ones people look up most often.
ButterflyfishJulii CorydorasRed-finned ParotocinclusGastromyzon monticolaEgg-shaped GoldfishFlame TetraGardner's KillifishAfrican TetraHypsolebias picturatusCommon ZaccoLabeo BicolorGambusiaFlying barbGastromyzon scitulusAlbino Zebra DanioGeophagus BrokopondoHomaloptera bilineataRed-tailed RasboraBoraras naevusLampeye KillifishSpotted Raphael CatfishCorydoras melanotaeniaFestivum cichlidPseudomugil paskai
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 CatfishMoonlight 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 AcaraGeophagus altifronsGeophagus winemilleriPearl CichlidRed-spotted CichlidHaplochromis philanderRed ChromideJack Dempsey cichlid
Cultivars
The same plant with a different look: light, water and care are shared with the species.
Other varieties: Limnophila aromatica Wavy, Limnophila aromatica ''Kalimantan Mini'', Limnophila sp. 'Mini'