Pogostemon stellatus

Care at a glance

Overview

A showpiece background stem plant that is genuinely demanding: it needs strong light, pressurized CO2, and a steady supply of nitrate, phosphate and micronutrients to thrive. Plant stems individually with space to bush out, and expect a frustrating melt-and-reconvert phase as emersed-grown stems transition to submersed growth. Pale or stunted leaves usually signal a micronutrient or CO2 shortfall, and it can stall unexpectedly even when parameters look right, so it is not a beginner plant.

In the wild

Grows in seasonally wet habitats, marshes and rice fields across tropical Asia and into northern Australia. Like many demanding stem plants it lives partly emersed in soft, nutrient-rich marshland and only develops its dramatic submersed form once underwater. Retail plants are usually grown emersed and look compact and unremarkable until they convert under good aquarium conditions.

Good to know

A member of the mint family, Lamiaceae, and formerly placed in the genus Eusteralis, which is still its most common trade synonym. Submersed stems produce narrow leaves in dense whorls radiating around the stem, the star or octopus arrangement that gives it its names. The plant flushes pink, purple and orange under good conditions, with color and leaf form changing markedly between the emersed and submersed forms.

Did you know

It is in the same genus and family as patchouli, the mint relative whose oil scents perfumes and incense.

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