Ricciocarpos natans

Care at a glance

Overview

An undemanding floater for calm water: give it still or gently moving surface, medium light and a tank with some nutrients in the water column and it multiplies by dividing, each heart splitting at the notch into new plants. Strong surface agitation and constant spray from filters break it up and sink it, so it does poorly under heavy flow or tight lids that drip condensation. There are no roots to feed, everything comes from the water, which makes it a useful nutrient exporter in rich tanks; scoop out handfuls when the cover gets thick enough to shade the plants below. Fry and shrimp graze and shelter among the hanging scales. In an outdoor tub it will overwinter and reappear in spring.

In the wild

Found on every continent except Antarctica, floating free on small stagnant, nutrient-rich waters: ponds, oxbows, ditches and seasonal pools, usually in full sun. The heart-shaped thalli float at the surface with the upper side in the air, and plants stranded on wet mud switch to a compact land form. It is winter hardy in temperate climates and suits ponds as well as tanks.

Good to know

Not a flowering plant at all but a liverwort in the family Ricciaceae, and the only species in its genus. Each floating thallus is a small, notched heart up to a few centimeters across, with long dark purple ventral scales hanging beneath the water like a fringe, which stabilize the plant at the surface. It is a close relative of Riccia fluitans but keeps a fundamentally floating habit rather than forming submersed tangles.

Did you know

The dangling purple scales under each floating heart work like a keel, keeping the thallus upright at the surface, and they are the quickest way to tell Ricciocarpos from a stray piece of Riccia.

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