Rotala rotundifolia 'Ceylon'

Rotala rotundifolia

A form of Rotala rotundifolia introduced from Sri Lanka (the island's old name was Ceylon); its stems grow loosely upward rather than strictly vertical like the 'ordinary' rotala, and its internodes are longer.

Light: medium–high
Difficulty: medium
Height: 20 – 80 cm (7.9 – 31 in)
Temperature: 4 – 32 °C (39 – 90 °F)

Leaf colour: green, red
Plant type: stem plant
Growth rate: fast
Tolerates light: medium – high
pH: 4 – 8
Carbonate hardness: 0 – 21 °dKH
General hardness: 2 – 30 °dGH
Placement: background, midground +1 background, midground, red accent
Propagation: cuttings
Grows emersed: yes

Appearance

Under moderate light the leaves are light green, with the underside weakly reddish or light pink — perhaps the reason for the trade name 'Pink'. Under intense light the upper side of the leaves, especially near the tips, also turns slightly red. The stems grow loosely upward, and under bright light partly grow horizontally to trailing or rise in wide spirals; internodes are relatively long, 1–2 cm, usually two leaves at a node, occasionally three, the stem light reddish-brown. In the 'ordinary' Rotala rotundifolia the stem grows strictly upward and the internodes are shorter. Height 20–80 cm, plant width 2–5 cm.

Keeping

Medium difficulty: light medium to bright, CO₂ 10–40 mg/l, temperature 22–28 °C.

Trade names

The plant is identical to the form that was called Rotala sp. 'Pink' in Europe around 2012; but a different form of the species, distinct from this one, is also sold under the names 'Pink' and 'Rosa' — a matching trade name does not guarantee the same plant. It has been used in well-known nature-style layouts.

Water conditions match

The water suits 1008 of 1249 species in the catalogue — these are the ones people look up most often.

Swordtail Guppies Cobra Guppy Blood Red Molly Butterflyfish Red Zebra Cichlid Julii Corydoras Red-finned Parotocinclus Gastromyzon monticola Egg-shaped Goldfish Flame Tetra Gardner's Killifish African Tetra Kenyi Cichlid Cuckoo Catfish Golden Swordtail Hypsolebias picturatus Common Zacco Labeo Bicolor Gambusia Flying barb Gastromyzon scitulus Albino Zebra Danio Geophagus Brokopondo Zebra Mbuna

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 Spined Loach Marbled Headstander Pellegrin's Leporinus Leporinus striatus False Black Tetra Common Metynnis Mylossoma duriventre Red Whiptail Catfish Molly sphenops Balloon Molly Lyretail Molly Marble Molly Hi-Fin Platy Hawaii Platy Blue Platy Pintail Platy Black Platy Chocolate Molly 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 Aulonocara maylandi Aulonocara multicolor Aulonocara Orchid Geophagus altifrons Geophagus winemilleri Pearlscale Cichlid Pearl Cichlid Redbelly Cichlid Red-spotted Cichlid Chuco godmanni Haplochromis philander Red Chromide Jack Dempsey cichlid

Matching water does not mean the fish will leave the plant alone.

Scientific and other names, conservation status

Other scientific names: Rotala sp., Ameletia rotundifolia, Ameletia subspicata, Ammannia rotundifolia, Ammannia subspicata, Mirkooa rotundifolia, Rotala rotundifolia
Rotala rotundifolia: (Buch.-Ham. ex Roxb.) Koehne
Family: Lythraceae
Conservation status: LC