Vallisneria spiralis

Also known as Tape grass, Eelgrass, Straight vallisneria, Italian val

FreshwaterBrackishRosetteRunners

Vallisneria spiralis (Vallisneria spiralis) — Lara Gudmundsdottir · CC BY-SA 4.0

Care at a glance

Light: Low light
CO2: No CO₂ needed
Growth rate: Fast
Placement: Background
Type: Rosette
Temperature: 59–86°F (15–30°C)
pH: 6.5–8.0
Hardness: 4–18 dGH
Max height: 19.7 in (50 cm)
Spread: 5.9 in (15 cm)
Nutrient uptake: Root + water column
Growth region: Submersed
Difficulty: Beginner
Origin: Southern Europe, North Africa, and Asia
Family: Hydrocharitaceae

Overview

Plant individual rosettes in the substrate as a background plant, keeping the white crown (where leaves meet roots) above the soil so it does not rot. It is one of the easiest plants in the hobby, thriving in low light with no CO2 and pulling nutrients from both roots and water column, so root tabs help in inert gravel. It spreads quickly by runners, so expect to thin daughter plants, and avoid glutaraldehyde liquid carbon products (like Excel) which can melt the leaves.

In the wild

Vallisneria spiralis is a true aquatic found in slow rivers, ponds, and ditches across southern Europe, North Africa, and parts of Asia, often in hard, alkaline water. It grows fully submersed as a rosette of long ribbon leaves rooted in the riverbed. In the wild it spreads along the bottom by runners to form dense underwater meadows.

Good to know

It belongs to the family Hydrocharitaceae and is dioecious, with separate male and female plants. The species name spiralis refers not to the leaves but to the long coiled flower stalk on the female plant, which spirals down to pull the pollinated flower back underwater. Each leaf typically shows about five longitudinal veins, and the plant grows from a basal rosette rather than a creeping rhizome.

Did you know

The female flowers reach the surface on a tightly coiled stalk to be pollinated, then the stalk corkscrews back down so the developing seed pod ripens safely underwater.