Freshwater
Indian toothcup
Rotala indica
Lythraceae
Facts
Care
- Growth form
- Under water
- Placement
- Midground, Background
- Light
- Medium
- CO₂
- Helps
- Growth
- Fast
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Height
- Up to 40 cm
Range
NativeIntroduced
Lives wild in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, China Southeast, East Himalaya, India, Indonesia, and 16 more countries.
Introduced to Congo - Brazzaville, Italy, Portugal, and United States.
More about the species
Description
Rotala indica is a species of flowering plant in the loosestrife family known by the common name Indian toothcup. It is native to Southeast Asia. This aquatic plant is best known as a popular aquarium plant and as a weed of rice fields. It is known as an introduced species and a weed in rice-growing regions in Congo, Italy, and Portugal, and California and Louisiana in the United States. The stems of the plant grow up to 30 or 40 cm long. Leaves are decussate, arranged oppositely in perpendicular pairs along the stems. The leaves are oval with thick, whitish, cartilaginous margins and measure up to 2 cm long. Flowers occur in leaf axils singly or in short, spikelike inflorescences. Each has four triangular sepals and four tiny pink petals.
Other names
Other scientific names
- Ameletia indica
- Ammannia peploides
- Peplis indica
Articles
All articles
Easy plants for beginners4 min read
Plants that cope with low light, soft water and a beginner’s mistakes, and how to plant them so they grow.
How to set up an Asian aquarium5 min read
Two aquariums from Southeast Asia: calm forest streams and peat swamps with soft, brown water, and fast mountain streams with cool, oxygen-rich water.
How to care for aquarium plants3 min read
Light, nutrients and CO₂ in balance, low tech versus high tech, and how to read from the leaves what your plants are missing.