Red tiger lotus

Care at a glance

Overview

Grown for its bold red marbled submersed leaves as a midground or specimen plant. Plant the bulb with the crown left above the substrate to avoid rot, give it a rich root feed, and use strong light plus iron to hold deep red color and a compact habit. It readily pushes floating lily pads in lower light; snip those off at the bulb to keep the submersed rosette dense and to protect light below. CO2 is not required but helps, and it propagates by daughter bulbs and occasionally seed from its night-opening flower.

In the wild

A water lily of warm still and slow waters across Africa, famously including the Nile, with populations also in parts of Southeast Asia. In the wild it roots in soft sediment and floats round pads at the surface, and it can flower with a fragrant white-to-cream bloom that opens at night. Aquarium stock is usually the red-leaved tiger form.

Good to know

The type species of the tiger lotus group in Nymphaeaceae, growing from a tuber. Nymphaea zenkeri, the common aquarium tiger lotus, is now treated as a synonym of N. lotus var. lotus, so the red and green tiger lotuses sold in shops belong to this same species. Submersed leaves are heart-shaped and marbled, while emersed pads are rounder and float.

Did you know

Did you know this is the sacred lotus of ancient Egyptian art, the night-blooming white water lily shown opening on tomb and temple walls along the Nile.

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