Schismatoglottis roseospatha

Care at a glance

Overview

Treat it like a Buce: glue or tie the rhizome onto rock or wood and never bury it, or it rots. It is a very robust, undemanding plant that is happy under low light without CO2, and because growth is very slow, strong light mostly buys you algae on the old leaves. Soft, slightly acidic water and a bit of flow match its stream origins, though it tolerates a wide range. Propagate by dividing the rhizome or cutting off daughter plants, and give it stable conditions rather than frequent rearranging. A good detail plant for nano tanks and hardscape crevices.

In the wild

A rheophyte known from the Gaad River and Sungai Lelang in Sarawak, on Borneo, where it anchors to rocks along forest streams with a creeping rhizome and clinging roots, much like Bucephalandra. It grows emersed on the banks in the dry season and holds on fully submersed when the rivers rise, withstanding strong current during high water.

Good to know

A member of the Araceae in the tribe Schismatoglottideae, the same tribe as Bucephalandra, described by Josef Bogner in 1988. The name means pink spathe, after the flower colour of emersed plants. Leaves are narrow, dark green and slightly shiny with finely undulate margins on reddish brown stalks, and submersed plants usually stay under 8 cm tall.

Did you know

German hobbyists collected this plant in Sarawak back in the 1970s, but it was not scientifically described until 1988 and it is still only rarely offered. Grown emersed in high humidity it can produce the small pink spathe it is named for.

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