Anubias heterophylla is a species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 belonging to the Aroid

Araceae

Araceae are a family of monocotyledonous flowering plants in which flowers are borne on a type of inflorescence called a spadix. The spadix is usually accompanied by, and sometimes partially enclosed in, a spathe or leaf-like bract. Also known as the Arum family, members are often colloquially...

 genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 Anubias

Anubias

Anubias is a genus of aquatic and semi-aquatic flowering plants in the family Araceae, native to tropical central and western Africa. They primarily grow in rivers and streams, but can also be found in marshes. They are characterized by broad, thick, dark leaves that come in many different forms....

. It was first described scientifically by Adolf Engler

Adolf Engler

Heinrich Gustav Adolf Engler was a German botanist. He is notable for his work on plant taxonomy and phytogeography, like Die Natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien , edited with Karl A. E...

 in 1879.

Synonyms

The following names are synonyms

Synonym (taxonomy)

In scientific nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that is or was used for a taxon of organisms that also goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linnaeus was the first to give a scientific name to the Norway spruce, which he called Pinus abies...

 of A. heterophylla: A. congensis N.E. Brown, 1901, (including A. congensis var. crassispadix Engler, 1915), A. affinis De Wildeman

Émile Auguste Joseph De Wildeman

Émile Auguste Joseph De Wildeman was a Belgian botanist.His botanis author abbreviation is De Wild.-Works:* Les phanérogames des Terres Magellaniques., 1905.* Documents pour l'ètude de la geo-botanique congolaise, 1913....

, 1907, A. engleri De Wildeman, 1907, A. bequaerti De Wildeman, 1922, and A. undulata (trade name).

Distribution

Cameroon

Cameroon

Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...

, Equatorial Guinea

Equatorial Guinea

Equatorial Guinea, officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea where the capital Malabo is situated.Annobón is the southernmost island of Equatorial Guinea and is situated just south of the equator. Bioko island is the northernmost point of Equatorial Guinea. Between the two islands and to the...

, Gabon

Gabon

Gabon , officially the Gabonese Republic is a state in west central Africa sharing borders with Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, and with the Republic of the Congo curving around the east and south. The Gulf of Guinea, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean is to the west...

, Republic of the Congo

Republic of the Congo

The Republic of the Congo , sometimes known locally as Congo-Brazzaville, is a state in Central Africa. It is bordered by Gabon, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo , the Angolan exclave province of Cabinda, and the Gulf of Guinea.The region was dominated by...

, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world...

, and Angola

Angola

Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...

 (including Cabinda Province).

Description

A. heterophylla has leaf blades that can be up to 38 cm long and 13 cm wide and are rather variable in form, ranging from elliptic/oval to lance- or spear-shaped. The leaf stems

Petiole (botany)

In botany, the petiole is the stalk attaching the leaf blade to the stem. The petiole usually has the same internal structure as the stem. Outgrowths appearing on each side of the petiole are called stipules. Leaves lacking a petiole are called sessile, or clasping when they partly surround the...

 are generally longer than the blade and up to 66 cm long. The leaves are set on a creeping and rooting 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...

 that is 5 to 17 mm thick. The spathe is 1.5 to 4.5 cm long and 2 to 4.5 times as long as wide, and has an up to 27 cm long peduncle

Peduncle (botany)

In botany, a peduncle is a stem supporting an inflorescence, or after fecundation, an infructescence.The peduncle is a stem, usually green and without leaves, though sometimes colored or supporting small leaves...

. The spadix

Spadix

In botany, a spadix is a type of spike inflorescence having small flowers borne on a fleshy stem. Spadix are typical of the Family Araceae known as arums or aroids...

 is 1.5 to 4.5 cm long and can be up to 2 times than the spathe. The upper part is covered with male flowers, of which the 4 to 6 stamen

Stamen

The stamen is the pollen producing reproductive organ of a flower...

s are fused into synandria, with the theca

Theca

A theca refers to any case, covering, or sheath.In botany, the theca of an angiosperm consists a pair of microsporangia that are adjacent to each other and share a common area of dehiscence called the stomium. Any part of a microsporophyll that bears microsporangia is called an anther. Most...

e on its sides. The lower part of the spadix is covered with female flowers that are reduced to the ovary

Ovary (plants)

In the flowering plants, an ovary is a part of the female reproductive organ of the flower or gynoecium. Specifically, it is the part of the pistil which holds the ovule and is located above or below or at the point of connection with the base of the petals and sepals...

 and stigma

Stigma (botany)

The stigma is the receptive tip of a carpel, or of several fused carpels, in the gynoecium of a flower. The stigma receives pollen at pollination and it is on the stigma that the pollen grain germinates. The stigma is adapted to catch and trap pollen with various hairs, flaps, or sculpturings...

.

Ecology

The plant grows on rocky grounds at the edge of watercourses and on their damp banks. It flowers from July to January, fruiting from July to March.

Cultivation

This slow-growing plant is recommended in spacious aquarium

Aquarium

An aquarium is a vivarium consisting of at least one transparent side in which water-dwelling plants or animals are kept. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, marine mammals, turtles, and aquatic plants...

s and paludarium

Paludarium

A paludarium is a type of vivarium that incorporates both terrestrial and aquatic elements. Paludaria usually consist of an enclosed container in which organisms specific to the biome being simulated are kept. They may be maintained for purely aesthetic reasons or for scientific or horticultural...

s, where propagation by division of the 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...

is the general method. This plant grows best when only partially submerse and not crowded by other plants. It prefers a temperature range of 24 to 27 °C. It can be propagated by dividing the rhizome. Smaller plants can be cultivated successfully in an aquarium.