Meeboldii Legenandra The red plant is native to India and looks a lot like a medium-sized, broad-leaved Cryptocoryne. It, like Cryptocorynes, can be used in aquariums, but it requires adequate light to develop colours. Because the leaves are 4-8 cm wide and 6-12 cm long, the plant as a whole becomes relatively wide. On the same leaf, the colours range from dusty green with bright violet to red-violet. The new leaves are a pale pink colour.
Lagenandra meeboldii is native to the southern Indian states of Karnataka and Kerala, where it grows on shaded marshy riverbanks up to 1200 m above sea level.
This Meeboldii Legenandra is highly variable, with different sizes, leaf shapes, and colours. Some hobbyists have been growing a green and a red variety in emersed cultivation in botanical gardens and as paludarium plants for quite some time. However, it is a relatively new discovery that at least the red variety can be kept continuously submerged in the aquarium. Lagenandra meeboldii ‘Pink’ is a fast-growing aquarium plant in the United States. According to photos on internet forums, its emersed and submerged forms appear to have longer and larger leaf blades than the red form of L. meeboldii known in Europe, which has ovate leaves with a slightly heart-shaped leaf blade basis. It is unclear whether ‘Pink’ is a different form or if the difference in appearance is due to differences in cultivation conditions and plant age.
Lagenandra Meeboldii is a rare plant that is related to Bucephalandra and Homalomena. It is a simple plant that can be grown both emersed and submerged. It looks like a cross between Homalomena and Cryptocoryne Wendtii, but with larger reddish brown oval leaves. Cut along the rhizome to propagate.
Lagenandra is closely related to Cryptocorynes and colonises similar habitats. Lagenandra meeboldii is a very diverse species, and the variety ‘Red’ is a beautiful midground plant. Most species in the genus Lagenandra were previously unsuitable for aquariums, but this new plant from India performs admirably in an underwater landscape. They, like the Anubias, form a strong rhizome here, but they must be planted into the substrate. With its eye-catching colour, this Indian beauty would look fantastic in a plant aquarium.
