Bucephalandra Red

Care at a glance

Overview

Grow it attached to wood or rock like Anubias, keeping the rhizome uncovered so it does not rot. It stays small, with leaves roughly 2 to 4 cm wide, and works well tucked into midground stone or driftwood crevices. It does best at lower light in low-tech tanks, but a touch more light plus CO2 pulls out the red tones and white speckling that the form is prized for. Growth is slow, so watch for algae on older leaves.

In the wild

Another Borneo endemic from the fast-flowing rivers and streams of Kalimantan, growing on rock faces both submersed and emersed as water levels change. 'Red' is a widely sold trade form (Tropica lists it as 139A) selected for its reddish leaf tone rather than a documented single population.

Good to know

An undescribed Bucephalandra trade form in the Araceae, carrying the 'sp.' label because it has never been formally classified. Submerged leaves show dark green to red colour with fine white dots and metallic blue hues on the surface. The red pigmentation intensifies under stronger light, a common response across coloured Buce forms.

Did you know

Did you know the red in this Buce is not stable low-tech colouring, and the same plant will drift back toward dark green under low light, then flush red again when given brighter light.

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