Anubias barteri var. nana: grower data, planting and names

What the grower data says

Tropica’s ratings put Anubias nana at the undemanding end of every scale: low light, low CO2, slow growth and an “easy” difficulty rating ^[1]. Aquasabi’s profile agrees on all four points and adds that the plant tolerates water up to “hard” and does not need added CO2 ^[3]. On one of Tropica’s product pages the description adds that it thrives in shady places where other plants will not ^[2], which is why it is often placed under taller plants or in the shadow of wood.

The height figures need reading with care. Tropica’s table gives “5 - 15+” cm as the average height after two months, while its description says the plant reaches 5–10 cm with a rhizome of 10–15 cm or more ^[1]. Aquasabi gives a care height of 5–20 cm ^[3]. The plant is short; it is the rhizome that keeps lengthening.

Slow growth has a cost. Tropica notes that the leaves survive for several years, which gives slow-growing algae the chance to become established on them ^[1]. Algae on an old leaf is therefore not, on its own, evidence that the plant is failing.

Placement and planting

Both growers treat Anubias nana as an epiphyte: Aquasabi lists it for the foreground, middle ground and nano tanks and as an epiphyte ^[3], and Tropica says the best result comes from planting it on a stone or tree root, held with fishing line until its roots take hold ^[1]. If you do put it in the substrate, Tropica’s warning is specific: the rhizome must not be covered, because it tends to rot ^[1]. Pushing only the roots into the gravel and leaving the rhizome on the surface follows that advice.

Tropica sells the plant in several forms, including pots, tissue-culture cups and pieces already grown on lava stone or wood ^{[2, 1]}. Plants grown on hardscape can be placed directly without tying.

Growth and propagation

Growth comes from the rhizome, which Tropica says reaches 10–15 cm or more ^[1]. Tropica also notes that the plant flowers frequently under water ^[1]. Neither grower page describes how to propagate Anubias nana. For Java fern, another plant grown on a horizontal rhizome, Tropica describes splitting the rhizome (see the Java fern profile).

Tropica’s description also says the plant is not eaten by herbivorous fish ^[1].

Names and taxonomy

The trade name keeps a variety, Anubias barteri var. nana, that the World Checklist of Vascular Plants does not recognize. WCVP accepts Anubias barteri Schott in the arum family, Araceae ^[5], and records both Anubias barteri var. nana (Engl.) Crusio and the older species name Anubias nana Engl. as synonyms of it ^[4]. Other trade varieties such as var. glabra, var. caladiifolia and var. coffeifolia are treated the same way. In other words, the checklist lumps the small aquarium form into the species; the “nana” label describes a cultivated form rather than a separately accepted taxon.

WCVP gives the species’ native range as West and Central Africa: Cameroon, Congo, Gabon, Guinea, the Gulf of Guinea islands, Ivory Coast, Liberia and Nigeria ^{[5, 6]}. Tropica’s description names Cameroon as the origin of its plants ^[1], which falls inside that range.