Pinera's Holly Anubias

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

Anubias Pinera lives in the waters of the Congo, Cameroon, Gabon and Zaire. Most often it can be found in shady places along the banks of streams and rivers with a rather slow current. This aquatic beauty looks very impressive in paludariums and in aquariums. Although this green pet shows rather slow growth rates in paludariums, it feels great there. Nevertheless, in our area it is extremely rare to see it. And this African handsome man got its name by the name of L. Pinera, a famous naturalist

Getting to know the plant

This unique marsh plant is endowed with creeping rhizomes reaching one and a half centimeters in thickness. The length of the petioles of Anubias Piner reaches forty-five centimeters. Under the leaf blades, they are attached at a distance of one to two centimeters. Often the petioles are dotted with small thorns, however, they can be seen only in rather powerful specimens.

Anubias Piner's leaf blades have a spear-shaped or tripartite shape, and their middle lobes can be both lanceolate and narrow lanceolate. In length, the average lobes of the leaves grow on average up to twenty-six centimeters, and in width - up to fourteen. The length of the sharp lateral lobes reaches sixteen centimeters, and their width is seven. All leaves are painted in rich green or neutral green tones.

Anubias Piner flower stalks grow from seven to twenty-seven centimeters long. During the ripening period, the covering leaves of this aquatic beauty, reaching a length of two to three and a half centimeters, open for a while, and then close again. The cobs are also about three and a half centimeters long. Anubias Piner's stamens grow together in four to six pieces at once, and there are small nests on the tops and sides of the synandria. As for the seed size of this green pet, it reaches 1.5x2.4 mm.

It is noteworthy that during the growing season, Anubias Piner can be quite difficult to distinguish from its relative called Anubias Hastifolia.

How to grow

Since anubias Pinera adapts rather poorly to the underwater aquarium life, it is better to grow it in paludariums. In principle, keeping the green holly pet in aquariums for a short time is also quite possible. And with prolonged underwater maintenance, the green African handsome man can gradually degrade. The best acidity of water for growing it will be pH 6, 0 - 7, 5, and the optimal hardness can be in the range from two to fifteen degrees. This aquatic inhabitant is planted, as a rule, in the middle plan. It will look pretty good in the foreground as well.

In order for Pinera's anubias to develop as best as possible, you need to try to provide him with moderate diffused lighting in conjunction with high humidity in the air.

The best soil for keeping Anubias Piner will be a combination of earth and sand. It will not be superfluous to add clay with humus from beech foliage to such a mixture. Ideally, the soil should be saturated with all kinds of nutrients.

Far from natural conditions, Anubias Pinera is propagated mainly by dividing rhizomes. It is extremely rare that this aquatic beauty can be propagated generatively, that is, by seeds.

In general, Anubias Pinera is quite unpretentious in care, he rarely encounters diseases, as well as pests.

When purchasing anubias Pinera, you should pay attention to the appearance of this aquatic beauty. Plants sold in trays filled with cold water are definitely not worth purchasing. The rhizomes of this green pet should not be slimy, and the leaves should not disintegrate - such symptoms may be signs of rhizome rot or vascular bacteriosis in a beautiful plant.