Hanguana

Hanguana malayana

General information: Reported to grow in permanent freshwater in rainforest or melaleuca swamps. Rarely found on floodplains but there is a 4 square kilometer patch in the Arafura Swamp where the Goyder River enters. It is a broad leaf reed like plant that grows up to 2 meters high. Juvenile plants have been trialed as aquarium species, they don't do well submerged and grow very slowly but don't die if there is good water quality and carbon with good light.

Cultivation notes : It grows well as a emergent pond plant and reproduces by seed and rhizome. There are small thin roots emerge from the rhizome and find their way into the substrate. It is best not to bury the rhizome as it will rot and kill the plant. It is best staked in an upright position in a pot submerged in shallow water with the rhizome on the substrate, that allow roots to develop. It is suggested that it will not do well below the tropic if kept un heated.

Distribution : In Australia it is found in NT and Qld. Also occurs in Sri Lanka and Malesia.

Selling details : Sold as a bare rooted single plant.

Reference: Cowie, Short & Osterkamp Madsen ( 2000 ) "Floodplain Flora, a flora of the floodplain of the Northern Territory, Australia"