Red Aldrovanda

Ease to Grow: Moderate to ChallengingDormancy: Not requiredNative Range: Northwestern AustraliaZones: 12-13 (11-14) The Red Waterwheel Plant, Aldrovanda vesiculosa var. rubescens is a warm loving red-colored variety of the more typical green winter-tolerant form.  It too is an aquatic, free-floating, rootless carnivorous plant of boggy waters. The rope like plant contains successive whorls of bristly traps.  Each trap shaped like a small, wide-mouth clam.  There are 4-9 traps per whorl, and each whorl is about 1/2" round, giving the plant a soft rope like appearance. Aldrovanda prefers warm, shallow (8-20"), peaty, dark tea-colored waters rich in tannins and low in nutrients.  It grows best in the sunny partial cover amongst water lilies and other emergent plants. Red coloration expresses itself in the full heat and light of late Summer. Its pink and red flowers are small, and on short stalks in late summer. Seeds are rare. Reproduction is typically vegetative. It is a warm perennial,