Lagenandra meeboldii Red

• 

  Meeboldii
• RedThis page
• Red Round
• Pink
• Green

Care at a glance

Overview

A midground focal plant handled like a large, slow crypt. Give it nutrient-rich substrate with the crown proud of the surface, since burying the rhizome rots it. Tropica rates light and CO2 demand low and the plant does survive that way, but the colour is earned: in dim light it drifts toward dusty green, while medium light with iron and CO2 holds the violet-red and widens the rosette faster. Expect melt when it is moved, and propagate by dividing the rhizome once side shoots appear.

In the wild

Red is a selected colour form of Lagenandra meeboldii. The species grows on shaded, marshy riverbanks in south-west India, in Karnataka and Kerala, at elevations up to about 1200 m, usually emersed or half-submersed at the waterline. Aquarium stock, including Tropica's line, is nursery grown.

Good to know

Lagenandra sits beside Cryptocoryne in the family Araceae and is told apart by its vernation: new leaves unroll like a scroll rather than emerging folded. The species name honours the German botanist and collector Alfred Meebold. Red is the most widespread of several colour selections, its blades running dusty green through violet to red-violet, often on the same leaf, with pale pink new growth; the form names are horticultural, not botanical.

Did you know

The genus wears its reputation in a name: a close relative is called Lagenandra toxicaria for its poisonous sap. Like most aroids, meeboldii is loaded with calcium oxalate, one reason snails and herbivorous fish leave the tough leaves alone.

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