Acorus gramineus Sol.

Daniel Solander

Daniel Carlsson Solander or Daniel Charles Solander was a Swedish naturalist and an apostle of Carl Linnaeus. Solander was the first university educated scientist to set foot on Australian soil.-Biography:...

 Aiton is a botanical species belonging to the family of Acorus

Acorus

Acorus is a genus of monocot flowering plants. This genus was once placed within the family Araceae , but more recent classifications place it in its own family Acoraceae and order Acorales, of which it is the sole genus of the oldest surviving line of monocots. The exact relationship of Acorus to...

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Origin

Native to Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 in eastern Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

, where it usually occurs in wetlands and shallow water.

Description

This shrubby plant's long, narrow, slightly curved leaves may grow to 30 cm (12 inches) in height. It can grow fully or partially submerged, or in very moist soil, but it will usually only flower when at least partially submerged.

Var. pusillus has slightly shorter, more rigid glossy green leaves, while var. variegatus has longer leaves streaked with yellow.

Cultivation and uses

Acorus gramineus spreads aggressively by rhizome

Rhizome

In botany and dendrology, a rhizome is a characteristically horizontal stem of a plant that is usually found underground, often sending out roots and shoots from its nodes...

, creating a nearly-seamless groundcover where conditions are favorable, and it is frequently used around the edges of ponds and water gardens, as well as submerged in freshwater aquaria. It can be propagated by dividing the fleshy underwater rhizome and planting the base in shallow water until the cutting strengthens.