UG

Care at a glance

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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