Anubias Nana

Anubias Nana (Anubias barteri var. nana) is an aquatic plant in the family Araceae. It is native to West Africa. Anubias barteri var. nana is close to indestructible, and the one way to kill it is to plant it. The rhizome — the thick horizontal stem the leaves grow from — must stay above the substrate. Buried, it rots, and a nana pushed into gravel is the commonest way people lose a plant that otherwise tolerates almost anything. Tie or glue it to wood or rock and let the roots grip on their own. It is a West African aroid from Nigeria, Cameroon and Bioko, reaching about 15 cm, growing slowly in low to medium light with no CO2 at 22 to 28 °C (72–82 °F). That slowness is the trade-off: the leaves last for years, and algae has years to colonise them, so shade suits it better than bright light.