Leaf colourgreen, red +1
Native range
- Alabama
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- Bahamas
- Bermuda
- California
- Cuba
- Dominican Republic
- El Salvador
- Florida
- Georgia
- Haiti
- Jamaica
- Kansas
- Louisiana
- Mexico Central
- Mexico Gulf
- Mexico Northeast
- Mexico Southeast
- Mexico Southwest
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Nevada
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- North Carolina
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Puerto Rico
- South Carolina
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Virginia
stem plant background midground red accent Conservation status: LC
A form of the red ludwigia (Ludwigia repens 'Mesakana'), known in the German hobby as the 'variegated ludwigia'; the leaves are a little larger and more brightly coloured than in the ordinary species, with a more pronounced pattern and an especially rounded shape.
- Light
- medium
- Difficulty
- easy
- Height
- 20 – 30 cm
- Temperature
- 4 – 30 °C
Parameters
Plant typestem plant
Growth ratefast
CO₂ demandlow
Tolerates lightlow – high
pH5 – 8
Carbonate hardness2 – 22 °dKH
General hardness0 – 30 °dGH
Placementbackground, midground +1
Propagationcuttings
Grows emersedyes
Appearance
Very similar to ordinary Ludwigia repens, but the leaves are a little larger, more brightly coloured, with a more pronounced pattern and an especially rounded shape. As a rule it is placed within the variable Ludwigia repens, but it also closely resembles the hybrid Ludwigia palustris × repens.
Keeping
It is sometimes stated to be more exacting than the ordinary form: a high need for micronutrients, over which it competes with other ludwigias; it looks better in softer water; occasionally, for no obvious reason, individual particularly strong shoots wilt, shed their leaves and rot. Easy, growth fast, light medium to strong, CO₂ 15–40 mg/l, temperature 22–26 °C.
Placement
Red accent, background and midground.
Trade names
What the cultivar name refers to is unclear; sellers spell it in different ways: 'Messacana', 'Messancana', 'Messicana' (the last of these Italian for 'Mexican'). In the German hobby it is called the 'variegated ludwigia'.
Fish and this plant
Water conditions match
The water suits 1008 of 1249 species in the catalogue — these are the ones people look up most often.
Swordtail GuppiesCobra GuppyBlood Red MollyButterflyfishRed Zebra CichlidJulii CorydorasRed-finned ParotocinclusGastromyzon monticolaEgg-shaped GoldfishFlame TetraGardner's KillifishAfrican TetraKenyi CichlidCuckoo CatfishGolden SwordtailHypsolebias picturatusCommon ZaccoLabeo BicolorGambusiaFlying barbGastromyzon scitulusAlbino Zebra DanioGeophagus BrokopondoZebra Mbuna
Will eat this plant
These species damage plants, especially when their diet is short of vegetable food.
Bengal LoachZebra LoachBurmese Border LoachEmperor BotiaSpined LoachMarbled HeadstanderPellegrin's LeporinusLeporinus striatusFalse Black TetraCommon MetynnisMylossoma duriventreRed Whiptail CatfishMolly sphenopsBalloon MollyLyretail MollyMarble MollyHi-Fin PlatyHawaii PlatyBlue PlatyPintail PlatyBlack PlatyChocolate MollyMoonlight 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 AcaraAulonocara maylandiAulonocara multicolorAulonocara OrchidGeophagus altifronsGeophagus winemilleriPearlscale CichlidPearl CichlidRedbelly CichlidRed-spotted CichlidChuco godmanniHaplochromis philanderRed ChromideJack Dempsey cichlid