Nymphaeaceae

Nymphaea lotus 'grün'

Nymphaea lotus

A variety of:Tiger Lotus

The green-leaved form of the tiger lotus: the underwater leaves are green with dark spots or streaks, while in the 'rot' form they are red. Often in the trade, and easy to get from other aquarists too.
Light
medium
Difficulty
medium
Height
20 – 30 cm (7.9 – 12 in)
Temperature
15 – 30 °C (59 – 86 °F)
Native rangeRange on the map
  • Angola
  • Benin
  • Botswana
  • Burkina
  • Burundi
  • Cameroon
  • Central African Republic
  • Chad
  • Congo
  • DR Congo
  • Egypt
  • Eswatini
  • Ethiopia
  • Gabon
  • Gambia
  • Ghana
  • Guinea-Bissau
  • Guinea
  • Gulf of Guinea Is.
  • Ivory Coast
  • Kenya
  • KwaZulu-Natal
  • Liberia
  • Madagascar
  • Malawi
  • Mali
  • Mauritania
  • Mozambique
  • Nigeria
  • Niger
  • Northern Provinces
  • Rwanda
  • Senegal
  • Sierra Leone
  • Somalia
  • Sudan-South Sudan
  • Tanzania
  • Togo
  • Uganda
  • Zambia
  • Zimbabwe

Tank conditions

Leaf colour
green, red +1 green, red, bronze or brown
Plant type
rosette
Growth rate
fast
CO₂ demand
low
Tolerates light
medium – high
pH
5 – 8
Carbonate hardness
2 – 14 °dKH
General hardness
0 – 30 °dGH
Placement
background, midground
Propagation
runners, seeds
Grows emersed
unknown

Care and keeping

Appearance

The underwater leaves are green with dark spots or streaks, while in the 'rot' form they are red. It is sometimes stated that plants of an intermediate colour also occur.

Keeping

It is kept the same way as the red form: undemanding, but a heavy feeder — without root fertiliser it takes nutrients from its neighbours; under good conditions it produces runners. Like the red form, it tends to send up floating leaves. Difficulty medium, growth fast, light medium to strong, CO₂ 10–40 mg/l, temperature 22–28 °C.

Trade names

Often in the trade; easy to get from other aquarists.

Fish and this plant

Matching water does not mean the fish will leave the plant alone.

Scientific and other names, conservation status

Other scientific names
Castalia edulis, Castalia lotus, Castalia mystica, Castalia pubescens, Castalia sacra, Castalia thermalis, Leuconymphaea lotus, Nymphaea acutidens, Nymphaea aegyptiaca, Nymphaea boucheana, Nymphaea coteka, Nymphaea dentata, Nymphaea edulis, Nymphaea esculenta, Nymphaea fragrantissima, Nymphaea hypotricha, Nymphaea leucantha, Nymphaea liberiensis, Nymphaea lotus thermalis, Nymphaea lotus dentata, Nymphaea lotus aegyptia, Nymphaea lotus grandiflora, Nymphaea lotus monstrosa, Nymphaea lotus ortgiesiana, Nymphaea ortgiesiana, Nymphaea reichardiana, Nymphaea sagittata, Nymphaea thermalis, Nymphaea zenkeri, Nymphaea omarana, Nymphaea ortgiesiano-rubra
Nymphaea lotus
L.
Conservation status
LC