Persicaria Praetermissa

Common Names - Synonyms:

Polygonum sp. 'Ruby

Origin - Distribution:

• Southeast Asia

To use the words of a member, if you do not want the in-your-face colors of Persicaria sp. ‘Sao Paulo’ this species is a good alternative.

Nevertheless, the growing patterns are quite different. The stem is thinner than the ‘Sao Paulo’ variety, but still mainly inflexible. Unlike ‘Sao Paulo’, P. praetermissa does not grow straight up but grows at about a 45° angle or even creeping along the substrate. This growing habit makes this plant good for use in nature style aquascaping, especially in the edges.

While the triangular leaf shape is maintained, the emersed leaves are green while the submersed leaves develop a nice shape of pink. Good nutrient levels are required, otherwise the plant will start losing leaves and experience stem melt. If there is a little bit of hard stem left, leave it in the aquarium and correct the nutrient levels. New growth will occur if given time.

Photo 1: Submersed P. praetermissa. Source : Mihai Zamfir (Allwissend), 2017. All rights reserved. Used with permission.
Photo 2: Emersed leaf of P. praetermissa. Source : Mihai Zamfir (Allwissend), 2017. All rights reserved. Used with permission.
Photo 3: Emersed P. praetermissa. Source : Mihai Zamfir (Allwissend), 2017. All rights reserved. Used with permission.