Marsh Ludwigia

Ludwigia palustris

A red plant that manages without carbon dioxide and asks only for decent light. It branches readily, so a few stems soon become a bush.

Light: low
Difficulty: easy
Height: 10 – 50 cm (3.9 – 20 in)
Temperature: 4 – 30 °C (39 – 86 °F)

Native rangeRange on the map

Alabama
Albania
Algeria
Angola
Arizona
Arkansas
Austria
Belgium
Botswana
British Columbia
Bulgaria
California
Cape Provinces
Colombia
Connecticut
Corse
Costa Rica
Cuba
Czechia-Slovakia
DR Congo
Delaware
District of Columbia
Dominican Republic
Florida
France
Georgia
Germany
Great Britain
Greece
Guatemala
Haiti
Hungary
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Iran
Italy
Jamaica
Kansas
Kentucky
KwaZulu-Natal
Lebanon-Syria
Lesotho
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Mexico Central
Mexico Gulf
Mexico Northeast
Mexico Northwest
Mexico Southeast
Mexico Southwest
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Morocco
NW. Balkan Pen.
Namibia
Nebraska
Netherlands
New Brunswick
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
Newfoundland
North Carolina
North Caucasus
Northern Provinces
Nova Scotia
Ohio
Oklahoma
Ontario
Oregon
Palestine
Pennsylvania
Poland
Portugal
Puerto Rico
Québec
Rhode I.
Romania
Sardegna
Socotra
South Carolina
Spain
Switzerland
Tennessee
Texas
Transcaucasus
Tunisia

Leaf colour: green, red, pink or purple
Plant type: stem plant
Growth rate: fast
CO₂ demand: low
Tolerates light: medium – high
pH: 5 – 7
Carbonate hardness: 0 – 22 °dKH
Placement: red accent, background +3 red accent, background, midground, nano tank, Dutch street
Propagation: seeds, cuttings
Grows emersed: yes

Appearance

Stems from 10 to 50 cm with small oval leaves in pairs — green above and red-purple underneath, and wholly red in strong light. The plant sends out side shoots on its own and grows dense.

Keeping

Easy: it grows in soft and hard water, tolerates dim light and does without carbon dioxide, though the red comes only with light. Trimming makes it branch more, which is the simplest way to a full group.

Placement

The middle and back of the tank as a colour accent; the shorter forms suit a nano tank. Plant several stems together — a red spot works, a single red stem does not.

Propagation

Cut a shoot and plant it; roots appear in a few days. Cuttings taken from side shoots root just as readily.

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.

Ludwigia palustris 'Super Red'

Other varieties: Ludwigia palustris × repens, Ludwigia palustris 'Green', Ludwigia palustris Red, Ludwigia Palustris Sphaerocarpa, Ludwigia sp. 'Red', Ludwigia 'Mini Super Red', Ludwigia sp. 'Super Red'

Scientific and other names, conservation status

Other scientific names: Isnardia palustris L., Ludwigia × kentiana E. J. Clement, Dantia palustris, Isnardia ascendens, Isnardia nitida, Isnardia palustris, Isnardia palustris submersa, Isnardia palustris terrestris, Isnardia palustris americana, Isnardia palustris riparia, Isnardia palustris rivularis, Jussiaea isnardia, Ludwigia apetala, Ludwigia nitida, Ludwigia palustris elongata, Ludwigia palustris riparia, Ludwigia palustris rivularis, Ludwigia palustris submersa, Ludwigia palustris americana, Ludwigia palustris nana, Ludwigia palustris pacifica, Ludwigia palustris inundata, Ludwigia palustris liebmannii, Ludwigia palustris palustris, Ludwigia palustris typica, Peplis portula, Quadricosta palustris, Tiphogeton palustre
Ludwigia palustris: (L.) Elliott
Family: Onagraceae
Conservation status: LC

Marsh Ludwigia

Tank conditions

Care and keeping