Photo: Christian Fischer, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Water starwort
Callitriche palustris agg. L.
10–40 cm
Height in the aquarium
medium to high
Light
low
CO₂ needs
10–20 °C
Ideal temperature
Water parameters
Understand these values- Position
- background, midground
- Propagation
- cuttings
- Grows emersed
- yes
In the wild
Overview
The water starworts of this group bear soft leaves on thin stems. Submerged, they mostly grow narrow leaves; at the surface, the tips form rosettes of broader leaves. The suffix “agg.” refers to a set of closely related species, not a precise botanical identification of the plant.
- Scientific name
- Callitriche palustris agg. L.
- Classification
- Lamiales › Plantaginaceae
- IUCN Red List
- Least concern (LC)
Natural habitat
Europe
Observations (GBIF) and localities Native countries Introduced in Rivers and lakes
- Native countries
Range of the species Callitriche palustris according to Kew:
- Introduced by people
Outside its native range, in 1 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
Some plants of the group seem able to last in the aquarium, even above 20 °C, but experience remains limited. Cuttings are used to renew the stems. Watch the form you receive and how its foliage changes: starworts sold for ponds are not necessarily all the same species, and identifying them often needs the flowers or fruit.
Sources:Flowgrow GBIF POWO (Kew) Flowgrow — description allemande · Base map: Natural Earth