What Is This Plant??

[Dandy Pearl]

Hey Folks,

I'm looking for help identifying this plant. The LFS calls it Stricta but from what I've googled, it is not that.

I love that it grows easily and l looks nice when kept heavily pruned down. I like the long flowing leaves.

My fish love swimming through it. If you let it grow it will get very thick and would be great for fry to hid in.

Here is the overall picture. It's the tall stem plant.

 

Here is a close up of one of the nodes. It has four leaves coming out of each one.

 

Here is a close up of the top. It shows a couple of 'branches' coming out of the node. The plant will fork at the node below where it has been trimmed.

 

This pic shows it growing like crazy in my other tank. I have to trim it back every couple of weeks or it will take over that half of the tank. It does not propagate by runners, thankfully. It propagates very easily by sniping it off above any node and shoving the stem in the substrate. It roots right away from the node above the cut and in the gravel.

 

It grows very tall so could be a good choice for tall tanks. The down side is how often it needs to be pruned back.

If I were to start it over again, I would grow it in clumps of three. When it gets tall, you can cut one stem back severely. By the time it comes to cut another one down, the first one will likely be already half grown.

I would recommend this to any beginner as a bullet proof plant to gain confidence in and see great growth.

What is it???

[MattyIce]

I am pretty sure it is Pogostemon stellatus octopus

Edited December 4, 2020 by MattyIce

[The nano tank man]

Pogostemon salotus octopus.