Leaf colourgreen, red, pink or purple
Native range
- Assam
- Bangladesh
- Borneo
- Cambodia
- China South-Central
- China Southeast
- East Himalaya
- Hainan
- India
- Japan
- Korea
- Laos
- Malaya
- Maluku
- Myanmar
- Nansei-shoto
- Nepal
- New Guinea
- Northern Territory
- Philippines
- Queensland
- Sri Lanka
- Sulawesi
- Sumatera
- Taiwan
- Thailand
- Vietnam
- Western Australia
stem plant background midground Conservation status: LC
Narrow pointed leaves in dense whorls that turn orange, pink and red under strong light — one of the showiest background plants there is, and one of the least forgiving.
- Light
- high
- Difficulty
- difficult
- Height
- 15 – 30 cm
- Temperature
- 15 – 32 °C
Parameters
Plant typestem plant
Growth ratefast
CO₂ demandhigh
pH5 – 7
Carbonate hardness1 – 18 °dKH
General hardness0 – 30 °dGH
Placementbackground, midground
Propagationcuttings
Grows emersedyes
Appearance
Thin pointed leaves sit in pairs along the whole stem, close enough to make it look like a bottle brush. Height 15–30 cm in a tank. Colour depends entirely on conditions: from plain green to orange and deep pink.
Keeping
Difficult, and the difficulty is not one thing but three: it needs strong light, carbon dioxide and steady feeding with trace elements at once. Pale leaves are the first sign that feeding is short. Even in good conditions growth sometimes stops for no visible reason, then starts again. Plants bought from a shop are usually short and compact because they were grown above water — they look nothing like themselves until they settle in.
Placement
The back or middle of a larger tank, in a group of several stems. In a small tank it outgrows the space in a month.
Propagation
By cuttings: cut the top and plant it, the old stem branches below 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: Eusteralis stellata, Pogostemon stellatus 'Broad Leaf', Pogostemon stellatus "Octopus", Pogostemon stellatus Topf, Pogostemon stellatus Broad Leaf, Pogostemon stellatus Broad Leaf in Vitro XL, Eusteralis Stellata, Pogostemon Stellatus Dassen