TankBud

UG

Utricularia graminifolia

Also known as Grass-leaved bladderwort

FreshwaterCarpetingRunners

UG (Utricularia graminifolia)
Aquarium Plants Factory · Used with permission

Care at a glance

Light
High light
CO2
CO₂ required
Temperature
64–82°F
18–28°C
Max height
1.6 in
4 cm
Growth rate
Medium
Placement
Foreground
Type
Carpeting
pH
5.0–7.0
Hardness
0–6 dGH
Spread
11.8 in (30 cm)
Nutrient uptake
Root + water column
Growth region
Submersed or emersed
Difficulty
Difficult
Family
Lentibulariaceae
Origin
South and Southeast Asia (India, Sri Lanka, southern China, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam)

Overview

A carpeting foreground plant that demands high light, injected CO2, and soft water in a mature tank. It sulks and can melt back if planted into a fresh setup, so patience through an acclimation period is normal before it starts spreading by runners. Plant small clumps deep with the tips just showing, keep KH low (around 3-5), and avoid heavy trimming.

In the wild

Native to springs, marshes, and streambanks across South and Southeast Asia, from India and Sri Lanka through southern China, Myanmar, and Indochina. It is an amphibious perennial that grows both submersed and along wet margins, forming low grass-like mats up to around 1,500 m elevation in Burma.

Good to know

It is a carnivorous plant in the bladderwort family (Lentibulariaceae), not a true grass despite the name. Tiny bladder traps sit along its branching stolons and leaves, catching microorganisms such as infusoria by suction. It has no true roots, anchoring instead with a network of stolons.

Did you know

Did you know UG is actually a carnivore? The little bladders on its stolons trap and digest tiny aquatic animals, so a plant sold as a lawn is quietly eating microfauna in your substrate.

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