Leaf colourgreen
Native range
- East Himalaya
- India
- Myanmar
- Thailand
stem plant on stone and wood midground nano tank foreground
Found by aquarists on the Thai–Burmese border and known in the hobby by its Thai name, dao noi, "little star". The crinkled, wavy-edged leaves radiate from a short stem and look unlike anything else in a planted tank.
- Light
- medium
- Difficulty
- medium
- Height
- 3 – 10 cm
- Temperature
- 15 – 28 °C
Parameters
Plant typestem plant
Growth ratemedium
CO₂ demandmedium
Tolerates lightmedium – high
pH5 – 7
Carbonate hardness2 – 14 °dKH
General hardness0 – 30 °dGH
Placementon stone and wood +3
Propagationcuttings, division +1
Grows emersedyes
Appearance
A compact plant 3 to 10 cm tall and about as wide, with deep green leaves whose edges curl in tight waves. The rosette-like habit gives it a texture no other foreground plant has.
Keeping
Wants good light, a nutrient-rich substrate and moderate carbon dioxide; with all three it stays low and puts out side shoots freely. In poor light it stretches and loses the curl that makes it worth growing.
Placement
Foreground and nano tanks, and one of the few small plants that also attaches to stone and wood. A group of several plants set a few centimetres apart closes into a low carpet.
Propagation
Side shoots form at the base, root on their own and can be separated once they have a few leaves. Dividing an old plant is the usual way to increase a group.
Fish and this plant
Water conditions match
The water suits 855 of 1249 species in the catalogue — these are the ones people look up most often.
ButterflyfishJulii CorydorasFeatherfin SynodontisRed-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 cichlid
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
Cultivars
The same plant with a different look: light, water and care are shared with the species.
Other varieties: Pogostemon Helferi Platinum, Pogostemon Helferi 'Downoi', Pogostemon Helferi Downoi Red