Short's hedgehyssop

Short's hedgehyssop is a small marsh plant of the eastern United States that the aquarium trade sells mostly for the foreground. The stems carry pairs of narrow, pointed leaves and stay low, giving the plant a tidy creeping habit that suits the front of a tank better than most stem species. Its species name, viscidula, comes from the sticky, gland-dotted foliage, which gives the leaves a slightly tacky feel.

It grows by cuttings and by splitting older clumps, and it rewards patience: once a few shoots are planted they settle slowly and form a low mat over several weeks. Moderate light is enough, and very bright light is not needed. It accepts ordinary water conditions, including a pH of 6 to 7.5, at temperatures of 18 to 26 °C.

Cultivation data on this species is thin in the reference databases, so the temperature and water-chemistry figures here are estimates rather than source-confirmed values. In practice it behaves like an easy foreground creeper that stays where it is planted, which is exactly what most keepers want from it.