Question about A. reineckii cultivars

[ange]

Are there any major differences between Alternanthera reineckii 'rosaefolia' and Alternanthera reineckii 'lilacina' beyond the stems, undersides of leaves, and veins being different colors? I'm considering branching out and am having a difficult time deciding. I've successfully kept A. reineckii 'rosanervig' for almost 2 years so I'm not hugely concerned about care requirements, mostly just wondering about aesthetic differences. I've been playing with 'alien aquascaping' as a concept and it's an amalgamation of oddball plants and strange colors.

[JoeQ]

Very interested in this thread, I think the main difference is lilacina is a deep purple when given the right conditions. Where-as rosaefolia is more pinkish... Im at the same cross roads in deciding if growing a few stems of the variegated AR would have enough diffrences that it would make an impact in my scape (or lack of) 🤣

[ange]

On 3/25/2022 at 5:46 AM, JoeQ said:

Very interested in this thread, I think the main difference is lilacina is a deep purple when given the right conditions. Where-as rosaefolia is more pinkish... Im at the same cross roads in deciding if growing a few stems of the variegated AR would have enough diffrences that it would make an impact in my scape (or lack of) 🤣

Apologies for taking so long to reply. I wound up taking the plunge on both and should receive my stem bunches next week. I don't intend to grow it in the same tank as my rosanervig but I can update with some comparisons (and if I ever expand, grow some bunches side by side so that we know the conditions are comparable and we can have a more objective look). The main thing to note is that I purchased rosaefolia mini so the growth pattern will likely be slightly different. I'm mostly excited to look into the comparison of submerged stem color, variations in variegation, and of course: hue.