About the species

Littorella uniflora is a low-growing rosette plant with thick, fleshy leaves that is easy to recognise. It grows wild along the lake shores of Europe, North America and South America. The leaves reach two to five centimetres long and only a couple of millimetres wide, and the plant readily sends out runners that in time form a very characteristic carpet. Growth is slow and the leaves are fragile.

Facts

• Latin name: Littorella uniflora
• Plant type: Runner plant
• Origin: Widespread worldwide
• Height: 3–5 cm
• Growth rate: Slow
• Position: Foreground

Light requirement

Low light requirement. It manages with the lighting that comes with most aquariums and is happy in partial shade behind or beneath taller plants. Strong lighting does not harm it, but raises the risk of algae on the leaves because the plant cannot use all the available light.

CO₂ & nutrition

Manages entirely without added CO₂, which makes it as suitable for a simple aquarium as for an aquascape. Liquid carbon or injected CO₂ speeds up growth but is never a requirement. Dose an all-round fertiliser with iron and micronutrients every week.

Planting

Plant the individual plants with their roots in the substrate and the crown free above it. The plant then spreads by itself with runners beneath the substrate and gradually fills out the area, so leave room around each plant from the start.

Rinse all the gel off in lukewarm water before planting, otherwise it can cause bacterial cloudiness. The cup holds many small plants — divide them up and plant them in several portions.

Care & propagation

Thin the runners where you do not want them and move the daughter plants where you want more. Cut them free with scissors rather than pulling, so the mother plant's roots stay put. A nutrient-rich substrate makes it spread considerably faster.

Position in the aquarium

Its low mature size makes it a foreground plant. Place it right at the front where nothing shades it, and let it form a continuous surface in front of the taller plants.

Difficulty level

🟢 Easy — grows in most aquariums without CO₂ and under ordinary lighting.

Delivery format

Delivered as 1-2-Grow! — a laboratory-grown cup holding many small plants in nutrient gel. Because the plant is cultivated in vitro it is completely free of snails, algae, planaria and pesticides, which makes it the safest choice for a shrimp aquarium.

Recommendation

A different sort of foreground for anyone who wants something that does not look like every other carpet. Be careful when you clean the tank — the fleshy leaves snap easily and do not heal.