Staurogyne sp. Porto Velho

In Contrast to Staurogyne repens (see that plant’s profile), Staurogyne sp. ‘Porto Velho’ is only rarely cultivated in Europe at the moment. In the USA and Japan, however, it is one of the most popular new foreground plants. It is a very attractive, versatile plant and will very probably remain popular for many years to come. Quite obviously, Staurogyne sp. ‘Porto Velho’ is identical with the aquarium plant sold as Hygrophila sp. ‘Roraima’, which probably originates from another import. The Brazilian federal states Rondonia (with the capital Porto Velho) and Roraima both are situated in the western part of the country. Thus it is highly probable that these plants, originally collected there, belong to the same species that is distributed in both these states. At first, this plant was considered a Hygrophila species, however, its inflorescence shows characteristics of the related genus Staurogyne.

The aforementioned Staurogyne repens (up to now also known as Staurogyne sp.) was also considered to be Staurogyne sp. ‘Porto Velho’, however, these two plants are not identical. Amongst others, Staurogyne sp. ‘Porto Velho’ differs from Staurogyne repens by its narrower, lanceolate leaf form with the apiculate tip and its rather greyish green and in some parts even purple leaf colour. Even its underwater form has clearly hirsute light brown stems, whereas the stems of submersed S. repens are green and hairless to only slightly hirsute.
There are not yet sufficient experiences for efficiently comparing the cultivation requirements of S. sp. ‘Porto Velho’ and S. repens, however, there is a tendency towards S. sp. ‘Porto Velho’ being a slower grower and overall more demanding but not requiring more light than S. repens