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Water Hyssop

Bacopa

Also called Waterhyssop

Water Hyssop
Photo: Forest & Kim Starr, CC BY 3.0

Bacopa is a genus of about 60 mostly aquatic or amphibious plants in the Plantaginaceae family, grown in aquariums and ponds in warm climates. The key to growing them is warmth, plenty of light and keeping the stems rooted or submerged in moist conditions.

Family
Plantaginaceae (Plantain family)
Grows as
Aquatic
Light
Full sun, Part shade, Bright indirect
Water
Keep the stems submerged in water or the soil constantly moist.
Soil
Rich, moist substrate or pond mud; they also grow in shallow water.
Temperature
18–30 °C; protect below 10 °C
How easy
Easy

About

Bacopa is a genus of 60 aquatic plants belonging to the family Plantaginaceae. It is commonly known as waterhyssop (or water hyssop, though this is more misleading as Bacopa is not very closely related to hyssop but simply has a somewhat similar appearance).

How to grow it

Some of these species are commonly used in freshwater aquariums and ponds in warmer climates. Most are easy to grow and will tolerate a wide range of conditions. B. monnieri will tolerate brackish water up to 15 ppt, due to specialized adaptations that enable it to survive in saline environments. Algal infestation can be a problem in brighter lighting conditions.

Where it grows

Bacopa species are found in tropical and subtropical regions of the world, particularly the Americas. A few are regarded as weeds and excess stock should not be dumped in warmer regions. Most grow in moist amphibious conditions, though some like B. myriophylloides seem to be wholly aquatic.

Uses

Bacopa monnieri is used in Ayurvedic medicine. Preliminary clinical research found that the herb may improve cognition.

Other Bacopa plants

Blue waterhyssop · Bacopa crenata · Gila River waterhyssop · Herb of grace · Disk waterhyssop

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Bacopa by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

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