TankBud

Bucephalandra catherinae

Also known as Buce Catherinae, Bucephalandra catherineae

FreshwaterRhizomeRhizome divisionSide shoots

Bucephalandra catherinae (Bucephalandra catherinae)
"Bucephalandra Fake Catherinae G 2" by Dũng Cá Xinh is marked with Public Domain Mark 1.0. To view the terms, visit https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/. · pdm

Care at a glance

Light
Low light
CO2
CO₂ beneficial
Temperature
72–82°F
22–28°C
Max height
2.4 in
6 cm
Growth rate
Slow
Placement
Epiphyte
Type
Rhizome
pH
6.0–8.0
Hardness
4–15 dGH
Spread
3.9 in (10 cm)
Nutrient uptake
Root + water column
Growth region
Submersed or emersed
Difficulty
Easy
Family
Araceae
Origin
Borneo (West Kalimantan), Indonesia

Overview

One of the more compact Buce, so it can be used low in the layout as a foreground-to-midground accent, glued or wedged onto rock and hardscape with the rhizome left exposed. It is undemanding in low light and needs no CO2, though injected CO2 and steady dosing improve growth and colour. As always with the genus, never bury the rhizome or it will melt, and expect slow, steady leaf production.

In the wild

Bucephalandra catherineae is a described species endemic to Borneo, occurring on rocks in and along streams in West Kalimantan, Indonesia. It grows submersed when rivers are high and emersed on exposed stone when levels drop. Wild plants cling to rock with tough roots in the same way as Anubias.

Good to know

Unlike most Buce in the trade, catherineae is a validly published species, described by P.C. Boyce, J. Bogner and S.J. Mayo in 1995 in Curtis's Botanical Magazine, in the family Araceae. It is a short, densely tufted, low-growing plant with narrow, wavy, deep emerald leaves on short stalks that can flush red or purple under brighter light. Both green and red-selected clones circulate under the catherineae name in the hobby, often spelled 'catherinae'.

Did you know

Did you know that although the aquarium hobby sells hundreds of Bucephalandra trade names, only around thirty are formally described species, and catherineae is one of the few you can actually put a real scientific name to.

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