Costata Albida

The 'Costata' in this plant's trade name is an old species name rather than a cultivar epithet. Flowgrow lists Cryptocoryne costata Gagnep. as a synonym of Cryptocoryne albida, together with Cryptocoryne retrospiralis var. costata, so what shops sell as albida 'Costata' sits inside one variable species rather than beside it. The species belongs to the Cryptocoryne crispatula group and grows in southern Myanmar and Thailand. It varies enough that green and brownish plants occur in the same wild populations, which is where the trade's separate colour labels come from; Flowgrow's own common name for the species is white water trumpet. The published requirements are undemanding. Difficulty is easy, growth is slow, and light can run anywhere from low to high, so a modest fixture is enough. The optimum temperature is 22 to 29 °C and the published pH 5 to 8, with carbonate hardness between 2 and 12 dKH. CO2 at 10 to 40 mg/l suits it without being a condition of keeping it. It spreads by itself once settled: runners, rhizome division, splitting a clump, or cutting off daughter plants all work, and the plant also grows emersed. It is slow and it stays low, which is what makes it a midground plant rather than a feature.