
The Four-leaved star plant is still relatively new to the aquarium hobby and soon turned out to be an undemanding, very fast-growing and also beautiful stem plant. It was first introduced to Europe from Laos as Pogostemon stellatus “Octopus”, and in 2013 its true identity was revealed. Pogostemon quadrifolius is widespread from India and Bangladesh to Southeast Asia as a marsh and water plant. It has whorls of mostly four leaves at the stem nodes, to which the species name P. quadrifolius refers. In the submerged form (submersed) its leaves are about 12 – 14 cm long and 3 mm wide. They are often curved sideways, hence the trade name “Octopus”. The underside of the light to medium green leaves is partly tinted pale purple and the shoot tips can turn reddish-brown. The stems, about 3.5 mm thick, grow loosely upright or to the side and are moderately branched.
In the terrestrial form (emersed) the leaves are broader and shorter than in the submerged plant. Planted in the aquarium, the emersed stems soon form submerged shoots with the typical long, narrow leaves.