Lysimachia nummularia 'Aurea' (Golden Creeping Jenny)
Lysimachia nummularia 'Aurea' (Golden Creeping Jenny, Golden Moneywort, Creeping Loosestrife)
An extemely undemanding and versatile plant, Golden Creeping Jenny is one of the easiest aquarium plants - requiring neither high lighting or CO2. Lysimachia m. is one of the oldest aquarium plants due to its easy of cultivation and is popular in "Dutch" style aquascapes. This beautiful "award winning" cultivar produces attractive golden leaves in the aquarium and can also be grown emersed in a terrarium, as a houseplant or even in gardens!
QUICK NOTES:
Difficulty: Easy
Type: Stem plant - creeping herbacious perennial
Size: Stem width of 3cm, height 5 - 40cm
Native Range: Central Europe - introduced in Japan, North America
Position and Usage: Foreground ("street"), Midground to background
Growth Rate: Moderate - Fast
Lighting: 2/5 – 4/5 - grows well under partial shade
Water Conditions: 4-28°C, 5.5 – 7.5 pH. Highly adaptable and suitable for coldwater aquariums down to almost freezing temperatures
CO2: Not required
Propagation: Cuttings
Special requirements: None. Good quality substrate and fertilization as usual for any aquatic plantEmersed Growth: Naturally amphibious plant. Grows upright in aquariums but creeps along the soil as groundcover when grown emersed.
Description
Lysimachia nummularia 'Aurea', also known as Golden Creeping Jenny, is a unique plant that is as comfortable submerged in Aquariums or growing emersed in your garden. L. mummularia is moderately tall and appropriate for midground placement depending on the size and design of your aquascape. It can be "trained" to grow even shorter and used in Dutch style aquascapes as a "street" plant growing low over the substrate almost like a carpet. It will take on a lovely bush-like shape with golden leaves and will get even bushier with frequent pruning. With high lighting and CO2, it will grow denser and lower, and may even crawling along the surface of the substrate much like a carpeting plant.
L. nummularia is very easily cared for and readily adapts to virtuall all environments, making it especially well-suited to beginner hobbyists. It is one of the first plants used in aquariums and can be kept in no-tech setups including unheated coldwater tanks with Goldfish. Moderate to high lighting, CO2 supplementation, and nitrate fertilization and a soft, nutrient rich substrate will all facilitate faster, denser growth as with all plants but are not required in any way. Lysimachia mummularia relies primarily on nutrients in the water column and is not picky about substrates. In fact, it is perfectly content just floating.
Golden Creeping Jenny should be pruned frequently to encourage attractive and healthy growth and the resultant cuttings can be replanted for easy propagation. You can even grow the bits in a mason jar near a windowsill for a pretty little display!
Ultimately, this lovely golden culivar is both undemanding and versatile, and makes a great addition to any aquarium by hobbyists of any skill level. It is especially tolerant of a vast range of water conditions and will grow given only water and light. It is a perfect plant for those who have never grown aquarium plants before, have goldfish or as well as a unique addition to high-tech expert tanks.
Lysimachia mummularia is an amphibious species and is commonly used as a groundcover in gardens where it grows very low to the ground and "creeps" along the suface of the soil. It is therefore wonderfully suited for terrariums or Waki Kusa.
Originally native to Europe, Lysimachia m. has been introduced as a garden plant in North America. While this "award winning" golden cultivar is less likely to be as agressively invasive as it's wild-type cousin, care must be taken to not introduce this plant into natural waterways as it is so hardy and can survive North American winters. This is true of all aquarium plants so please cultivate responsibly.
