Eriocaulon cinereum

Care at a glance

Overview

A demanding foreground rosette that needs strong light, injected CO2, and a deep nutrient-rich aquasoil since it is a heavy root feeder. Keep water soft and slightly acidic (KH 1-4) and stable, as it reacts badly to hardness swings. Being an annual, it will eventually throw up flower stalks and decline, so plan to harvest side shoots or let it seed to keep a stock going.

In the wild

A small pipewort of seasonally wet ground, ricefields, and marsh edges, found broadly across tropical and subtropical Asia, Africa, and South America. In the wild it behaves as an annual, germinating in the wet season, flowering, and dying back after setting seed.

Good to know

It belongs to Eriocaulaceae, the pipewort family, and is one of the more widespread members of the genus with recognised African and Asian lineages. Unlike most aquarium Eriocaulon it is a genuine annual, so it completes its life cycle and dies after flowering. The tiny grey-white flower heads on slender stalks give it the epithet cinereum (ash-grey).

Did you know

Did you know this is one of the few aquarium Eriocaulon that is a true annual? It is genetically programmed to flower and die within a season, so keeping it long term means propagating replacements rather than growing one plant forever.

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