Bucephalandra 'Sintang Velvet' Care Guide
Bucephalandra 'Sintang Velvet' is a Borneo aroid (Araceae) cultivar with velvety dark-green leaves and blue iridescence, a slow shade-tolerant epiphyte for hardscape.
Overview
Bucephalandra 'Sintang Velvet' is an aroid cultivar of the Sintang group with velvety dark-green leaves that show a subtle blue iridescence on the surface. It is slow-growing and well suited to shaded epiphytic placements, grown attached to hardscape rather than planted in substrate.
Taxonomy
- Family: Araceae
- Genus: Bucephalandra
- Scientific name: Bucephalandra sp. 'Sintang Velvet'
Habitat
The genus Bucephalandra is endemic to Borneo, where the plants grow as rheophytic herbs forming dense mats over stones and rocks in streams and rivers within moist tropical forest. Stems are creeping and rooting.
Tank requirements
- Temperature: 22-28 °C (72-82 °F)
- pH: 6.0-7.5
- GH: 3-12 °dGH
- Maximum height: about 10 cm
- Lighting: low
- CO2: not required
- Placement: epiphyte (on rock or wood)
Growth and care
Growth is slow. The plant grows in low to medium light and tolerates shade; added CO2 is not necessary but can speed up growth and improve coloration. The rhizome must not be buried, as covering it can cause rot, so the plant is attached to rock or driftwood with thread or aquarium-safe glue. Leaves may melt after transfer from emersed culture, but new growth emerges from the rhizome.
Propagation
Propagation is by dividing the rhizome with sharp scissors at natural bends, then attaching the new piece to hardscape.