Tiger Spiralis

'Tiger' is a shop label attached to a narrow-leaved Cryptocoryne sold for the banded green-and-cream markings on its foliage. What sits behind the name is unsettled: Flowgrow documents no Cryptocoryne 'Tiger' at all, and every tiger-named plant in its database is a Vallisneria, so the name should be treated as trade shorthand rather than a confirmed botanical form.

The figures below follow Flowgrow's page for Cryptocoryne spiralis var. spiralis, the species this plant is sold as, and are an assumption carried over from the parent species rather than a measurement of the 'Tiger' form itself: 23 to 28 °C, pH 5 to 8, light anywhere from low to bright, carbon dioxide helpful but not needed, and medium growth. The parent species is rated easy and grows without injected carbon dioxide, which is worth knowing if a seller presents this plant as demanding.

Kept as a background rosette it reaches roughly 40 cm and spreads by runners through a rich substrate. Sudden shifts in water chemistry or moving an established plant will often cost the older leaves to crypt melt, and the banding fades when light is weak. Established clumps can be divided, and runners supply new plants once they have rooted on their own.