Aridarum caulescens
Burttianthus caulescens
Also known as Aridarum caulescens Sabertooth, Aridarum caulescens White Fang
Care at a glance
- Light
- Low light
- CO2
- CO₂ beneficial
- Growth rate
- Slow
- Placement
- Epiphyte
- Type
- Rhizome
- pH
- 6.0–7.5
- Max height
- 5.9 in (15 cm)
- Nutrient uptake
- Root + water column
- Growth region
- Submersed or emersed
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Origin
- Borneo (Sarawak and Brunei)
- Family
- Araceae
Overview
Care is Bucephalandra care with less forgiveness. Attach the stem to rock or wood, never bury it, and give low to medium light, decent flow and, above all, stability; parameter swings are the classic trigger for melt, and regrowth is extremely slow. CO2 is optional but helps the sparse growth along. It suits mature, quiet tanks, does equally well emersed in a humid paludarium, and propagates by cutting the creeping stem and gluing the piece down.
In the wild
A rheophyte endemic to Borneo, recorded from Sarawak and Brunei, where it grips shaded rock in and beside waterfalls and fast forest streams. The narrow, thick, waxy leaves are built to take the current, and plants sit emersed in the spray zone or fully submersed as water levels swing with the rains.
Good to know
An aroid of tribe Schismatoglottideae in Araceae, described in 1965 as Aridarum caulescens. The 2018 revision of the tribe by Wong and Boyce carved Aridarum into several genera and moved this species into the new genus Burttianthus, though shops still sell it as Aridarum caulescens or Aridarum Mini. The epithet caulescens means developing a stem, after the elongated creeping stem that sets it apart from most of its cushion-forming relatives.
Did you know
It is one of the slowest plants in the trade; a stem may add only a handful of leaves in a year, which is why even small portions of this Bornean rheophyte sell at collector prices.
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