TankBud

Jungle val

Vallisneria americana

Also known as Water celery, Wild celery, Eelgrass, Tape grass

FreshwaterBrackishRosetteRunners

Jungle val (Vallisneria americana)
(c) Josiah Londerée, some rights reserved (CC BY) · cc-by

Care at a glance

Light
Low light
CO2
No CO₂ needed
Temperature
59–86°F
15–30°C
Max height
39.4 in
100 cm
Growth rate
Fast
Placement
Background
Type
Rosette
pH
6.5–8.0
Hardness
4–18 dGH
Spread
7.9 in (20 cm)
Nutrient uptake
Root + water column
Growth region
Submersed
Difficulty
Beginner
Family
Hydrocharitaceae
Origin
North and Central America

Overview

Use it as a background or even mid-tank screen, planting each rosette with the crown above the substrate to prevent rot. The straight jungle form can grow over a meter tall and trail across the surface, so it suits taller tanks, while the corkscrew form stays more compact. It needs only low light and no CO2, feeds from roots and water column, and spreads readily by runners, but it is sensitive to liquid carbon dosing, which can cause melt.

In the wild

Vallisneria americana is native to North and Central America, where it grows submersed in lakes, slow rivers, and brackish estuaries as a key food and habitat plant for waterfowl. It forms long ribbon leaves rising from a basal rosette and spreads across the bottom by runners. It tolerates a wide range of conditions, including slightly brackish water near coastlines.

Good to know

A member of Hydrocharitaceae, it is dioecious and reproduces both sexually through surface pollination and vegetatively by stolons. The widely sold corkscrew or twisted form has tightly spiraled leaves, while typical jungle val leaves grow straight and can exceed a meter in length. It is the same species long valued ecologically as wild celery for the tubers and foliage that ducks feed on.

Did you know

It is the original wild celery that wild ducks and especially canvasback diving ducks feed on heavily, and its decline in places like Chesapeake Bay has been used as a measure of estuary water quality.

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