Leaf colourgreen, red, pink or purple +1
Native range
- Amur
- Assam
- Bangladesh
- Cambodia
- China South-Central
- China Southeast
- East Himalaya
- Japan
- Khabarovsk
- Korea
- Myanmar
- Nansei-shoto
- Nepal
- New Guinea
- New South Wales
- Philippines
- Primorye
- Queensland
- South Australia
- Sri Lanka
- Taiwan
- Tasmania
- Tibet
- Victoria
- Vietnam
stem plant background midground
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
Parameters
Plant typestem plant
Growth ratefast
Tolerates lightmedium – high
pH5 – 7
Carbonate hardness0 – 14 °dKH
General hardness0 – 30 °dGH
Placementbackground, midground
Propagationcuttings
Grows emersedyes
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.
Fish and this plant
Water conditions match
The water suits 841 of 1249 species in the catalogue — these are the ones people look up most often.
ButterflyfishJulii CorydorasRed-finned ParotocinclusGastromyzon monticolaEgg-shaped GoldfishFlame TetraGardner's KillifishAfrican TetraHypsolebias picturatusCommon ZaccoLabeo BicolorGambusiaFlying barbGastromyzon scitulusAlbino Zebra DanioGeophagus BrokopondoHomaloptera bilineataRed-tailed RasboraBoraras naevusLampeye KillifishSpotted Raphael CatfishCorydoras melanotaeniaFestivum cichlidPseudomugil paskai
Will eat this plant
These species damage plants, especially when their diet is short of vegetable food.
Bengal LoachZebra LoachBurmese Border LoachEmperor BotiaMarbled HeadstanderPellegrin's LeporinusLeporinus striatusFalse Black TetraCommon MetynnisMylossoma duriventreRed Whiptail CatfishMoonlight 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 AcaraGeophagus altifronsGeophagus winemilleriPearl CichlidRed-spotted CichlidHaplochromis philanderRed ChromideJack Dempsey cichlid
Cultivars
The same plant with a different look: light, water and care are shared with the species.
Other varieties: Polygonum praetermissum, Persicaria praetermissa Topf