Indian Swampweed

The leaf shape sets this one apart from nearly every other stem plant. Hygrophila pinnatifida has deeply lobed, almost fern-like leaves along stiff stems, and the underside of each leaf is a reddish-brown that shows through when the plant is viewed from above at an angle. No other Hygrophila looks like it.

It comes from coastal parts of western India, where it grows emersed and submerged in slow-moving water. In the aquarium it stays low and bushy at 20 cm or less when trimmed, though an untended stem can rise higher. It attaches to wood and rock easily — the stems send out holdfast-like growths against hard surfaces — so it works as an epiphyte as well as a substrate plant. This flexibility is its real strength: a clump wedged into a driftwood crevice looks more natural than one rooted in gravel.

Temperatures of 22 to 26 °C and pH 5 to 8 cover standard community tanks. CO₂ injection produces denser, more compact growth with better colour, but the plant survives and grows at a moderate pace without it. It does need stable iron dosing to keep the red underside; a pale, all-green plant is usually iron-deficient.

Propagation works through cuttings, runners from the base, and the unusual proliferating leaves — leaflets that form along the leaf margin and grow into new plants while still attached. These can be detached and planted once they have visible roots.