Round Fruit Blyxa

The grass-like leaves grow from a central rosette and, given enough iron, turn a chestnut-brown that stands out against green stem plants. Blyxa aubertii is one of the few rosette plants that can hold its own colour-wise in a high-light tank without becoming a maintenance burden.

It has a wide natural distribution across tropical Asia, Africa, and Australia, growing in still and slow-moving waters. The leaves are thin, strap-shaped, and fragile — strong current or boisterous fish will leave them tattered. Soft water around pH 5 to 7.5 and temperatures of 22 to 28 °C give the best results. In harder, more alkaline water growth slows and the leaves stay greener.

In nature it is often annual, and the aquarium form can be short-lived as well. A well-fed plant produces small white flowers at the surface that self-pollinate. The seeds develop in pods, visible through the transparent walls. When they turn from light green to brown, they are ready to sow in fine sand under direct light. This is the only reliable way to keep a line going long-term — established plants can be split, but they eventually decline.

CO₂ injection helps, particularly for the reddish colouration, but it grows at a respectable rate without it as long as light and nitrate are adequate.