Over the past few years, a number of plants from the Syngonanthus genus have become quite popular in the hobby. One of these is Syngonanthus sp. “Madeira”, a beautiful green stem plant from the Eriocaulaceae family. S. sp. “Madeira” is a delicate plant in mass, but doesn’t seem to be terribly difficult to grow given the proper conditions.

Photo Credit: Jake Adams, editor of ReefBuilders.com

For me, the proper conditions seem to be medium to high light with CO2 and water-column fertilization. Without sufficient iron, this plant tends to appear more pale than when it is in prime health. One of the beautiful things about S. sp. ‘Madeira’ is the shear number of leafs that come out of its crown. Usually it takes a couple months for the plant to adjust to your aquarium, but once it does it’s a pretty faster grower, and bushes out readily after trimming.

I’ve also grown this plant in my emersed setup, throwing a bunch of stems in and allowing them to float on the surface. About a week later, a few of the plants sent up flower stalks!

When you see the flowers, it’s easy to understand how Syngonanthus is in the Eriocaulaceae family, as the flowers are hat-pin type, just like their cousins in the Eriocaulon genus. The flower stalks are slightly pubescent (hairy), with the bud being indented in the middle.

I’m hopeful that these flowers will help us identify the true species for this plant. It’s somewhat probable that several of the Syngonanthus variants being traded, such as Belem, Lago Grande, and Madeira are all actually the same species, but from different localities. Nevertheless, all of these are wonderful aquarium plants that I recommend trying.

One of the newer plants I’ve been growing was sold to me as Limnophila sp. ‘Wavy.’ It is a larger, bright green, version of the Limnophila aromatica whose leaves grow in slightly twisted and wavy. When handled out of water, L. sp. ‘Wavy’ has a smell similar to rosemary like L. aromatica. I would not be at all surprised if we learned that Wavy is really just a variant of L. aromatica.

I am currently growing Limnophila sp. ‘Wavy’ in my 75G aquarium to provide a bright green background to my hardscape. Since it is a slightly larger plant, it probably isn’t very well suited to any aquarium smaller than 40G-50G. So far, it has been an incredibly prolific grower, requiring a trim more frequently than L. aromatica, which is also growing in the same aquarium.

It accepts trimming well, and eventually branches at the spot of the cut. Therefore, if you have a larger aquarium, I would recommend this plant as an excellent addition to provide bright green coloration with a unique leaf shape.

Back in April, I bought this plant from another hobbyist by the name Hygrophila sp. ‘Bihar.’ Submersed, this plant has pinnatifid (feather-like) leaves, which makes it very unique looking, but above water, it looks fairly ordinary.

We now suspect that this is likely a Staurogyne, instead of a Hygrophila because of the pubescence (hairs) on the stem and leaves. In addition, one stem has flowered for me out in the pond, and the flower very much resembles that of a Staurogyne.

Compared to the rest of the plant, the purple flowers are fairly small. I almost missed that a flower was present. Even the flowers have hairs on them.

I’m hoping that combined with these pictures, and a pressed specimen of the plant, that my friend can work with other experts to figure out what species of plant this really is. S. sp ‘Bihar’ most certainly is not correct!

Previously, I talked about Sphaerocaryum malaccense, and how it can be a unique and beautiful plant in an aquascape. I had the good fortune to take some pictures of my friend’s, plants, who let them grow emersed and managed to get flowers. Below are a few of those pictures. From the flowers, you can clearly see how this is a grass plant.

The flower stalks are fairly condensed before they open. The white flowers themselves are very tiny and delicate. I didn’t notice any significant fragrance from the flowers, but they’re nice nevertheless.

I really do enjoy seeing how the aquatic plants that we grow submerged look when kept out of water. Hopefully, I’ll have several more flowers to show later this summer.

Nymphaea micrantha is a very popular water-lily that I’ve kept for some time. It’s sometimes incorrectly sold as Nymphaea sp. ‘4-Color’ or as Four-Color Lotus plant. This is probably because the leaves are a smattering of colors, forming a beautiful mozaic on every leaf.

One of the other interesting qualities of this species is that plantlets often grow at the base of the leaf where the stem attaches. I noticed several of my leaves doing exactly this. The larger plantlets look like the picture below, with roots protuding from the underside of the leaf.

Initially, the plantlets start as a single stem emerging, which eventually has a leaf that unfolds. I’ve had this particular plant growing for almost a year, and it only started exhibiting plantlet growth within the past month.

Even as very small stems, you can see below that minature leaves are present. (Yes, some algae too, darn!) Once plantlets develop to sufficient size, and have nice root structures, you should be able to clip them from the parent leaf, and plant them as their own plant.

Growing Nymphaea micrantha is not terribly challenging. You just need to make sure to provide a rich substrate and a strong enough light. If you don’t have enough light, the plant will either melt away, or send all of its leaves toward the surface as floating lily-pads. Sometimes this happens anyways. Usually, if you’re diligent at trimming off these surface-loving-leaves, the plant will produce more compact, submersed leaves.

Fissidens fontanus is my favorite moss in the hobby right now. With fronds that curl down, and layer upon themselves, it’s a very unique looking moss. The effect is completely different from any of the other mosses in the hobby, as Java Moss, Taiwan Moss, Willow Moss, Christmas Moss, etc all give a similar look, despite minor differences. Fortunately, just like those others, however, Fissidens fontanus is just as easy to grow, and readily attaches to the hardscape.

Similar to any moss, detritus tends to accumulate within, and can ultimately lead to some algae being intertwined with the moss. I use Amano Shrimp to graze on these bits and keep my moss clean. F. fontanus is a North American native moss, with distribution throughout much of North America. As such, it can tolerate a range of temperatures.

Attaching it to wood/rocks is easy. Simply take a few fronds, and tie them down with cotton thread. By the time the cotton disintegrates, the moss should have attached itself. Now readily available in the hobby via hobbyists and online plant resellers, Fissidens fontanus is a moss that everyone should try.

Another interesting plant that’s been floating around the hobby for a few years now is known as Rotala sp. ‘Mini – Type 1′. There are two plants going around as R. sp. ‘Mini’, so people refer to them as Type 1 and Type 2. The Type 1, shown below is a very petite stem plant with unique leaves that curve downward toward the substrate. The leaves can also get a nice gradient of orange and reddish tones under certain conditions.

In my opinion, this is a plant that is quite ugly individually, but as a large bush (50-100 stems) is incredibly striking because there aren’t many plants that look like it. The relatively vertical nature of its growth defines the interesting group-of-quills look of the bush. Rotala sp. ‘Mini – Type 1′ demands a little bit more attention (light, CO2, nutrients) than the easier Rotala species, but is still not too difficult to keep. Give it a try!

Sphaerocaryum malaccense is one of the newer plants in the hobby that was originally traded erroneously as Arthraxon sp. ‘Malaysia’. Native throughout much of Asia, S. malaccense grows in swampy conditions forming loose mats of vegetation. In the aquarium, it is a very unique aquatic grass with leaves looking like trowels protruding from the stem via a sheath.

In a large group, Sphaerocaryum malaccense forms a nice bush, but doesn’t seem to form as tight a bush as a plant such as Rotala rotundifolia. It seems to grow well in medium light with CO2, but can really take off in higher light conditions. I’ve seen it grown successfully in some dosing and soil-based tanks, so it should grow in most situations.

When doing well, my friend Dave has observed that it pearls more than most other plants in his aquarium, with the oxygen bubbles get trapped in the curves of the leaves. Under high light, the leaves can get reddish brown highlights, but some green still remains. Overall, due to the unique aesthetic and relative ease of keeping,  Sphaerocaryum malaccense is an exciting new plant to grow and aquascape with.

I’ve recently obtained two completely different plants with “Sunset” in their names. The first is Cryptocoryne wendtii var. ‘Florida Sunset,’ which was just introduced last year at the Aquatic Gardener’s Association convention by Florida Aquatic Nurseries (FAN). FAN is the U.S.’s largest supplier of aquatic plants, so you should be able to obtain this plant through your local aquarium retailer.

This variety is named for the extreme varigation present in the leaves. Unfortunately, so far for me, the submersed leaves resemble regular Cryptocoryne wendtii in coloration. In my picture above you can see the varigation in one of the taller, decaying terrestial leaves with green, orange, and red all present.

The next plant is known as Rotala sp. ‘Sunset’, and is far more rare in the U.S. Apparently, it’s more readily available in Japan, but I only know that from heresay. This plant is a rather beautiful stem plant exhibiting oblong red leaves with attractive veining, similar to Rotala ramosior. The green stem provides a very nice contrast.

So far it hasn’t been as fast a grower as some other Rotalas, but hasn’t been glacial either. It seems to branch readily, and grows vertically toward to the light. I think it has a lot of potential to be a great aquascaping plant, as a small group could be a fantastic accent plant.

I recommend both of these plants to anyone. Obviously, the Cryptocoryne is more suitable to a wider array of tank conditions, but the Rotala should grow for medium-high light tanks, with CO2 being highly preferred. I have only grown it in high-light with CO2, so I cannot fully vouch for grow in other conditions. If anyone else has kept these plants, please feel free to share your feedback.

Elatine americana is a North American native plant found in the eastern half of the United States. It is a fragile looking plant, but bushes readily and has beautiful bright green leaves. Just like other Elatine species, Elatine americana can be aggressively trimmed to stay lower and increase branching. I think it may grow too upright to use as an effective foreground plant, but it is an excellent plant for the mid-ground.

Elatine americana grows in cold weather climates, but I haven’t had any problems growing it in normal tropical temperatures. It grows rather quickly, especially with increased CO2 and fertilizers. I have not tried growing it under low-light or non-CO2 style aquariums, so I cannot speak for it’s suitability in these situations.

Elatine americana is one of the few new plants in the hobby that has fantastic aquascaping potential. For that reason, I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a fine-leafed midground plant, background plant in nano-tanks.