Ruby Smartweed

Persicaria praetermissa

Narrow arrow-shaped leaves that go copper, red-brown and magenta once the plant is under water. Above water it is plain green — the colour is the reward for submerging it.

Light: medium–high
Difficulty: medium
Temperature: 18 – 30 °C (64 – 86 °F)

Leaf colour: green, red, pink or purple +1 green, red, pink or purple, bronze or brown
Plant type: stem plant
Growth rate: fast
Tolerates light: medium – high
pH: 5 – 7
Carbonate hardness: 0 – 14 °dKH
General hardness: 0 – 30 °dGH
Placement: background, midground
Propagation: cuttings
Grows emersed: yes

Appearance

Slender spear-shaped leaves with small lobes at the base, alternating along an upright stem. The leaf shape alone sets it apart from the usual round-leaved stem plants.

Keeping

Moderate demands: good light brings out the colour, feeding keeps it, carbon dioxide is not required. Growth is fast, so trimming is regular; plants bought in the emersed form look completely different for the first few weeks and only colour up once the new underwater leaves appear.

Placement

The middle or back of the tank, in a group. It works as a warm-toned block among green plants.

Propagation

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

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.

Other varieties: Polygonum praetermissum, Persicaria praetermissa Topf

Scientific and other names, conservation status

Other scientific names: Polygonum sp. 'Ruby', Persicaria auriculata, Persicaria birmanica, Persicaria hastatoauriculata, Polygonum auriculatum, Polygonum birmanicum, Polygonum hastatoauriculatum, Polygonum muricatum auriculatum, Polygonum praetermissum, Polygonum thunbergii hastatotrilobum, Tracaulon praetermissum, Truellum hastatoauriculatum, Truellum praetermissum
Persicaria praetermissa: (Hook. f.) H. Hara
Family: Polygonaceae

Ruby Smartweed

Tank conditions

Care and keeping