Cylindricfruit Ludwigia

Ludwigia glandulosa

Narrow leaves in deep wine red and purple on an upright stem. The colour is the whole point, and it comes from light — in the shade the plant simply turns green.

Light: medium
Difficulty: medium
Height: 15 – 30 cm (5.9 – 12 in)
Temperature: 10 – 27 °C (50 – 81 °F)

Leaf colour: green, red, pink or purple
Plant type: stem plant
Growth rate: medium
CO₂ demand: medium
pH: 5 – 7
Carbonate hardness: 2 – 10 °dKH
General hardness: 0 – 30 °dGH
Placement: red accent, background +2 red accent, background, midground, Dutch street
Propagation: seeds, cuttings
Grows emersed: yes

Appearance

Long narrow leaves in pairs along a stem 15–30 cm tall, from olive to burgundy and violet. Groups of it read as a dark red block rather than a bright one.

Keeping

Moderate demands and slow growth: it wants medium light and carbon dioxide to grow properly, and light is also what holds the colour. Too little of it and the leaves go green and the lower ones drop, leaving a bare stem. The slow pace means fewer trims but also a slow recovery from mistakes.

Placement

The middle or back of the tank, in a group, as a dark accent among green plants.

Propagation

By cuttings: cut the top and plant it; the old stem branches below the cut.

Water conditions match

The water suits 816 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 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: Ludwigia glandulosa Topf, Ludwigia glandulosa in Vitro XL

Scientific and other names, conservation status

Other scientific names: Ludwigia cylindrica Elliot, Ludwigia glandulosa ''Perennis'', Ludwigia glandulosa typica
Ludwigia glandulosa: Walter
Family: Onagraceae

Cylindricfruit Ludwigia

Tank conditions

Care and keeping