Photo: Lamiot, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Straight vallisneria
Vallisneria spiralis L.
20–30 cm
Height in the aquarium
medium to high
Light
low
CO₂ needs
20–28 °C
Ideal temperature
Water parameters
Understand these values- Position
- background
- Propagation
- runners
- Grows emersed
- no
In the wild
Overview
A “classic” plant, grown since the early days of fishkeeping. Its name does not come from its leaves, which are straight and ribbon-like, but from the stalk of the female flower, which coils into a spiral after flowering and pulls the fruit down to the bottom.
Under this name the trade sells plants of very different sizes, most often with smooth, fairly narrow leaves. “V. spiralis” imported from Malaysia turned out to be Vallisneria denseserrulata, an Asian species that is almost impossible to tell apart without its flowers.
- Scientific name
- Vallisneria spiralis L.
- Classification
- Alismatales › Hydrocharitaceae
- IUCN Red List
- Least concern (LC)
Natural habitat
Africa, West Asia and warm regions of Europe (Italy...): calm or flowing water
Observations (GBIF) and localities Native countries Introduced in Rivers and lakes
- Native countries
- Introduced by people
Outside its native range, in 11 countries:
An aquarium plant must never reach the wild: throwing away cuttings or emptying a tank into a stream can be enough to establish it.
Countries: Kew World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP). Dots: GBIF observations in the native countries.
In the aquarium
Growing in the aquarium
Very easy, it grows under almost any light and in almost any water, from 5 to 30 °C. It does not live out of water. It is planted in the background, where its long leaves form a curtain: 30 to 50 cm in Tropica's striped “Tiger” form.
It spreads by itself through runners, and the young plants that appear around the mother plant are enough to propagate it; simply pull out the surplus.
Sources:Flowgrow Tropica GBIF POWO (Kew) · Base map: Natural Earth