Butterfly Rotala

The plant sold as Butterfly Rotala is a red stem species from the trade, but its exact identity is not fully settled. Flowgrow carries only a page for Rotala macrandra 'Butterfly', and several similar red-stem rotalas circulate under the same common name, so the mapping here is a likely match rather than a confirmed one. The source page is thin: it records light, difficulty and propagation but publishes no temperature, pH or hardness figures. The range of 22 to 28 °C and pH 5.5 to 7 on this card are editorial defaults for a tropical stem plant, not a transcription, and should be treated as provisional. What the page does state is that the plant is rated difficult and wants medium to high light. The strong light and injected CO₂ that keepers rely on to hold the red colour and keep growth dense come from practice with red rotalas, not from any figure on the source page. Propagation is by cuttings. This is a plant for an established tank with good lighting, not a first aquarium.