Wrinkled Limnophila

Limnophila rugosa

A broad-leaved limnophila from tropical Asia — nothing like the feathery ambulias most keepers know from the same genus. Slow under water, and easy above it.

Light: medium–high
Difficulty: medium
Temperature: 15 – 30 °C (59 – 86 °F)

Leaf colour: green
Plant type: stem plant
Growth rate: slow
Tolerates light: medium – high
pH: 4 – 7
Carbonate hardness: 0 – 14 °dKH
General hardness: 0 – 30 °dGH
Placement: midground
Propagation: cuttings
Grows emersed: yes

Appearance

Paired leaves with a wrinkled surface on a sturdy stem, mid green. The coarse foliage sets it apart from its fine-leaved relatives at a glance.

Keeping

Moderate demands and slow growth under water: it wants medium to strong light and a nutritious substrate. It grows readily above the waterline, which is how it is most often kept.

Placement

The middle of the tank as a group of stems, and the bank of a paludarium.

Propagation

By cuttings: cut the top and plant it.

Water conditions match

The water suits 841 of 1249 species in the catalogue — these are the ones people look up most often.

Butterflyfish Julii Corydoras Red-finned Parotocinclus Gastromyzon monticola Egg-shaped Goldfish Flame Tetra Gardner's Killifish African Tetra Hypsolebias picturatus Common Zacco Labeo Bicolor Gambusia Flying barb Gastromyzon scitulus Albino Zebra Danio Geophagus Brokopondo Homaloptera bilineata Red-tailed Rasbora Boraras naevus Lampeye Killifish Spotted Raphael Catfish Corydoras melanotaenia Festivum cichlid Pseudomugil paskai

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 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 Geophagus altifrons Geophagus winemilleri Pearl Cichlid Red-spotted Cichlid 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: Limnophila rugosa Topf

Scientific and other names, conservation status

Other scientific names: Herpestis rugosa Roth, Didissandra ophiorrhizoides, Gratiola rugosa, Herpestis rugosa, Limnophila rugosa, Stemodia menthastrum, Terebinthina rugosa
Limnophila rugosa: (Roth) Merr.
Family: Plantaginaceae
Conservation status: LC

Wrinkled Limnophila

Tank conditions

Care and keeping