Blyxa japonica

Blyxa japonica is a plant that only grows under water. It is found in low ponds, swamps and slow-flowing forest streams with a high iron content in the subtropic and tropic zones of East and South-East Asia. It forms beautiful relatively low-growing to medium-high grasslike bushes with very narrow green to reddish leaves.

This Blyxa species is not overly difficult to cultivate if you fulfil some basic requirements: sufficient light (0.5-1 watts per litre or more), a CO₂ supply and fertilisation with nitrate, phosphate, potassium and micronutrients. In an optimal environment and under sufficient light, the leaves will assume golden and reddish hues, and the plant will develop a more compact growth habit. Under insufficient light, B. japonica has a higher, lankier growth habit and it is green in colour. The plant develops a very large root system and likes its substrate rich in nutrients, or bottom fertilisers, respecitvely. When phosphate levels are high (1-2 mg per litre), it regularly shoots long stems with tiny white flowers.

Blyxa japonica has been made popular by Takashi Amano's Nature Aquarium layouts, where he uses the green-golden, dense, grass-like tufts of B. japonica in the middleground of his setups. In aquarium layouts where no large plants are used, Blyxa japonica is a welcome contrast to small-leaved foreground plants like e.g. Glossostigma elatinoides.

*Pictures are not the actual plants you will receive, but a sample representation.

*Sold as a single plant