Myriophyllum aquaticum 'Green'

Myriophyllum aquaticum

A form of parrot's feather known as the 'male plant' of the species: above water it produces male flowers, while the ordinary form produces female ones. Underwater the leaves stay light to medium green even in strong light.

Light: medium–high
Difficulty: easy
Temperature: 4 – 30 °C (39 – 86 °F)

Leaf colour: green
Plant type: stem plant
Growth rate: very fast
Tolerates light: medium – high
pH: 5 – 7
Carbonate hardness: 2 – 21 °dKH
General hardness: 0 – 30 °dGH
Placement: background, midground +2 background, midground, Dutch street, surface
Propagation: cuttings
Grows emersed: yes

Appearance

Underwater the leaves are light to medium green even in strong light; only the segment tips at the shoot tip are often dark red-brown. In the ordinary form, under bright light the underwater leaves are light orange-brown and a little larger, and 'Green' stems are narrower than the ordinary form's. It differs from var. santacatarinense by a darker green colour and finer feathery segments.

Keeping

Easy, growth very fast, light medium to strong, CO₂ 15–40 mg/l, temperature 15–25 °C.

Placement

Fine-leaved, propagated by cuttings. Background and midground, a Dutch-style street.

Trade names

It has long been sold under the name 'Myriophyllum elatinoides', but this is a mistake: M. elatinoides is a synonym of Myriophyllum quitense, a completely different species.

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.

Scientific and other names, conservation status

Other scientific names: Myriophyllum aquaticum, mannliche Pflanze, weibliche Pflanze, Myriophyllum brasiliense Cambess., Myriophyllum proserpinacoides Gillies ex Hook. & Arn., Enydria aquatica, Myriophyllum brasiliense, Myriophyllum mattogrossense, Myriophyllum proserpinacoides
Family: Haloragaceae