TankBud

Whorled pennywort

Hydrocotyle verticillata

Also known as Whorled marsh-pennywort, Shield pennywort, Umbrella pennywort

FreshwaterCarpetingRunners

Whorled pennywort (Hydrocotyle verticillata)
Aquarium Plants Factory · Used with permission

Care at a glance

Light
High light
CO2
CO₂ required
Temperature
64–81°F
18–27°C
Max height
3.9 in
10 cm
Growth rate
Slow
Placement
Foreground
Type
Carpeting
pH
5.0–7.5
Hardness
0–15 dGH
Spread
5.9 in (15 cm)
Nutrient uptake
Root + water column
Growth region
Submersed or emersed
Difficulty
Difficult
Family
Araliaceae
Origin
Warmer regions of the Americas, from North and Central America through the Caribbean to South America

Overview

Grows well and quickly when emersed but is genuinely tricky submerged, where it turns slow and needs bright light and CO2 to stay compact. Under strong light it creeps low and can form a carpet, while in weaker light it grows leggy and tall. Spread by runners along the substrate and trim often to keep it flat and dense in the foreground or midground.

In the wild

A marsh and wetland pennywort from the warmer Americas, growing in damp ground and shallow water. Its round, parasol-shaped leaves sit on individual stalks arranged in a whorl, spreading by creeping runners across the substrate.

Good to know

Placed in the family Araliaceae (formerly Apiaceae). It is told from Hydrocotyle leucocephala by its symmetric, slotless umbrella-shaped leaves. The species name verticillata refers to the whorled arrangement of the flowers and leaf stalks.

Did you know

The same plant looks completely different above and below water. Emersed it throws up tall umbrella-leaved stalks like a bog plant, but submerged under high light it hugs the substrate as a low creeping carpet.

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