Leaf colourgreen, red
Native range
- Alabama
- Argentina Northeast
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- Belize
- Bolivia
- British Columbia
- California
- Colombia
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Costa Rica
- Cuba
- Delaware
- District of Columbia
- Dominican Republic
- Ecuador
- El Salvador
- Florida
- Georgia
- Guatemala
- Haiti
- Honduras
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Jamaica
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Leeward Is.
- Louisiana
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Mexico Central
- Mexico Gulf
- Mexico Northeast
- Mexico Northwest
- Mexico Southeast
- Mexico Southwest
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Netherlands Antilles
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- Nicaragua
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Ontario
- Oregon
- Panamá
- Paraguay
- Pennsylvania
- Peru
- Puerto Rico
- Rhode I.
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Trinidad-Tobago
- Venezuelan Antilles
- Venezuela
- Virginia
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Windward Is.
- Wisconsin
stem plant background midground red accent nano tank foreground Conservation status: LC
The only rotala native to North America, and one of the reddest: straight, barely branched stems with narrow leaves that turn orange and red under strong light.
- Light
- high
- Difficulty
- medium
- Temperature
- 18 – 30 °C
Parameters
Plant typestem plant
Growth rateslow
pH4 – 7
Carbonate hardness0 – 7 °dKH
Placementbackground, midground +3
Propagationcuttings
Grows emersedyes
Appearance
Long narrow leaves in pairs, each pair set at right angles to the one below, along an upright stem. The colour runs from green to orange-red; the well-known 'Sunset' form is the most strongly coloured of them.
Keeping
Moderate demands with one hard requirement — strong light, which is also what makes the colour. Soft, slightly acidic water suits it and carbon dioxide brings out the best growth. It grows slowly for a rotala, so a group takes its time to fill in. In nature it is an annual marsh plant and it grows above water just as readily.
Placement
The middle or back of the tank in a group, as a colour accent. It stays small enough for a nano tank when trimmed.
Propagation
By cuttings: cut the top and replant it.
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: Rotala ramosior "Sunset", Rotala ramosior Sunset, Rotala ramosior Sunset in Vitro, Rotala ramosior Florida, Rotala ramosior Florida in Vitro, Rotala ramosior Florida in Vitro XL