Common Name
Asian dayflower, Asian spiderwort, Wartremoving herb
Description
Murdannia keisak is a new uncommon aquarium plant. It has narrow distichous leaves, and under water it has strictly upright stems with pronounced nodes, which remind somewhat of bamboo. The leaves grow to a length of up to approx.5 cm and 1 cm in width, the stems are around 3 mm thick. This plant belongs to the Commelinaceae family, which means it is related to plants of the genus Tradescantia, the "Golliwoog" plant (Callisia repens), Cyanotis and Floscopa. Murdannia keisak is distributed in the warmer regions of Asia, where it mostly grows as bog plant or floats in shallow water. In the aquarium it does very well when cultivated submersed. In the submersed form, the leaves are of a very light green, often with some purple hues. When nutrients are deficient, the leaves tend to assume a whitish colour. A substrate rich in nutrients and fertilisation with macronutrients is very beneficial for growth. You can let Murdannia keisak grow above the waterline, too, and it can be cultivated as bog plant in paludaria. Its emerged form has low-lying to ascending stems.
With its very narrow leaves growing in two lines Murdannia keisak looks very much like a grass, however, it truly belongs to the family of Commelinaceae, like the well-known houseplants of the genus Tradescantia or the "Golliwoog" plant (Callisia repens). Most of the 50 species in the genus Murdannia are terrestrial plants, like e.g. M. loriformis, which is used as a medicinal herb. Murdannia keisak is one of the few bog and aquatic plant species in that genus. M. keisak is widely distributed in the warmer regions of Asia, however, it has also been introduced into the south-east of the USA, probably with rice seeds. There it spreads continuously. It has also been introduced into Italy. This plant grows in a diversity of moist places, like road ditches, river banks and lakeshores, bogs and, first and foremost, rice paddies. Its stems float in the water just under the surface, whereas its shoot tips grow above it. As terrestrial plant it has a creeping growth habit. It has not long been know that M. keisak is suitable as totally submersed aquarium plant. Right now it is mainly cultivated by hobbyists in Asia and the USA, in Europe it is still very new and hardly known.
Source
Flowgrow
Characteristic
Bamboo-like appearance
Strictly upright growth habit
Very light green with purple hues
Rarely found in trade
Synonyms
Aneilema coreanum H. Lév. & Vaniot, Aneilema keisak Hassk., Aneilema oliganthum Franch. & Sav., Aneilema taquetii H.Lév.
Complete Botanical Name
Murdánnia kéisak (Hassk.) Hand.-Mazz.
Family
Commelinaceae
Genus
Murdannia
Misapplied Names
Arthraxon hispidus
Category
Background
Difficulty
medium
Growth
fast
pH Value
5-7
Temperature Tolerance
18-30℃
Carbonate Hardness
0-14 dKH
General Hardness
0-30 °dGH
Propagation
Seeds, Cuttings
Can Grow Emersed?
yes
