Cryptocoryne schulzei

Care at a glance

Overview

Be honest with yourself before buying this one. It is imported fairly often, but there are very few records of anyone cultivating it successfully, and the Cryptocoryne literature says plainly that it is not well suited to the aquarium. The realistic route is emersed culture in a pot of soft, acidic substrate under high humidity, letting the plant build reserves before any attempt at a submersed transition. In a tank it needs soft, acidic, preferably tannin-stained water, dim light and complete stability, and even then it often dwindles away. Buy tissue-cultured stock only; wild collection is one of the pressures on its small native range.

In the wild

Cryptocoryne schulzei has a narrow range in Johor at the southern tip of Peninsular Malaysia, plus a single island off the east coast of Sumatra. It grows in a handful of small lowland streams and rivers alongside C. nurii, C. cordata and C. griffithii, producing narrower leaves where the water flows. The wild populations are threatened by over-collecting and by changes in land use.

Good to know

A water trumpet in the family Araceae, described by de Wit in 1971 and named for Schulze, who collected the type material the year before. The leaves are marbled with fine transverse lines, and the spathe has a broad limb, a dark brown throat and a pronounced collar.

Did you know

Despite decades of regular imports from Johor, long-term cultivation of C. schulzei remains rare enough that individual successes get written up by name in the Cryptocoryne literature.

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