Lilaeopsis brasiliensis

Lilaeopsis brasiliensis is a grass-like member of the carrot family with a creeping rhizome that colonises swamps, ponds and the banks of slow-flowing rivers in Argentina, Paraguay and south-eastern Brazil.¹ The leaves, usually no more than 6 cm long, are hollow below and end above in a flat, narrow spatula.¹ In the aquarium literature it was confused with L. novae-zelandiae and L. attenuata, and the frequently used name “New Zealand grass” is also misleading, as the plant comes from South America.¹²

This small plant slowly grows into a low lawn for the foreground.¹³ Although it manages with moderate light, the lawn only becomes dense under strong, unshaded lighting.¹²³ It is planted in a fine-grained substrate, divided into small tufts placed a few centimetres apart; it tolerates soft and hard water as well as slightly brackish water.¹²³