Description

Dragon’s Tongue – Established Rooted Terrarium Plant

Dragon’s Tongue, Strobilanthes sinuata, is a distinctive tropical foliage plant with long, narrow leaves, rippled edges and a dramatic colour contrast. The upper surfaces are rich green, while the undersides develop deep purple to burgundy colouring.

This plant is also widely sold under its former botanical name, Hemigraphis repanda. Both names refer to the same plant, but Strobilanthes sinuata is now the accepted botanical name.

Each plant is supplied as an established rooted cutting, rather than an unrooted piece of stem. This provides a stronger starting plant that can begin establishing more quickly after being planted into a suitable tropical substrate.

Why Dragon’s Tongue Is Good for Terrariums

Dragon’s Tongue is especially useful in humid tropical terrariums because its colourful foliage adds contrast without requiring a particularly large footprint. Its leaves can appear predominantly green when viewed from above, while the curled edges and upright growth reveal flashes of purple from underneath.

• Excellent colour contrast: green upper foliage and purple undersides create a striking two-tone appearance.
• Humidity loving: particularly well suited to enclosed tropical terrariums and humid vivariums.
• Upright growth: useful for filling the midground or background without immediately spreading across the substrate.
• Natural cover: mature foliage creates shaded areas and visual barriers for vivarium inhabitants.
• Responds well to pruning: regular trimming encourages a shorter, fuller and bushier plant.
• Easy to propagate: healthy stem trimmings can be rooted to produce additional plants.

Suitable Enclosures

Dragon’s Tongue is suitable for warm, humid planted environments, including:

• Dart frog vivariums
• Tree frog terrariums
• Tropical gecko enclosures
• Bioactive vivariums
• Closed or semi-closed terrariums
• Paludariums above the waterline
• Humid tropical plant cabinets

Its upright growth makes it particularly useful as a midground or background plant. It can grow surprisingly tall under favourable conditions, so periodic pruning is recommended in smaller enclosures.

Planting Dragon’s Tongue in a Vivarium

Plant the established root system into a moist, free-draining tropical substrate. Cover the roots fully but avoid burying the lower leaves or growing crown beneath the substrate.

Choose a position with good humidity and bright, indirect light. Leave enough room around the plant for airflow and future growth. Once established, the growing tips may be pinched or trimmed to encourage branching and produce a fuller plant.

Browse our complete range of terrarium and vivarium plants to combine Dragon’s Tongue with ferns, mosses, climbing plants and contrasting tropical foliage.

Light Requirements

Provide medium to bright indirect light. Good-quality vivarium LED lighting will help maintain compact growth and bring out the strongest contrast between the green upper surfaces and purple leaf undersides.

Plants grown under insufficient light may become stretched, produce longer gaps between leaves and lose some of their strongest purple colouring.

Water and Humidity

Dragon’s Tongue prefers consistently moist conditions and moderate to high humidity. The substrate should remain lightly moist but should not become stagnant or permanently waterlogged.

It performs especially well in humid terrariums where the substrate drains freely and some air movement is maintained around the foliage.

Growth and Maintenance

Dragon’s Tongue grows upright and can become taller than its small starter size might suggest. Prune the growing tips whenever the plant reaches the desired height.

Regular trimming helps control its size and encourages new side shoots, resulting in a denser and more attractive plant. Any healthy trimmed sections containing stem nodes may also be rooted separately.

Established Rooted Cutting

Every plant supplied is an established rooted cutting. It is not supplied as a freshly cut, unrooted stem.

The photographs show representative plants from the available batch. Individual plants will naturally vary in height, leaf number, shape and depth of colouring.

Emersed Terrarium Plant – Not an Aquatic Plant

Dragon’s Tongue is sometimes sold by aquarium plant suppliers, but it is not suitable for permanent growth beneath the water. It should be planted terrestrially or above the waterline in a terrarium or paludarium.

Its roots may tolerate consistently moist conditions, but the stems and foliage must remain above water. Permanent submersion will eventually cause the plant to deteriorate.

Vivarium Planting Advice

For more information about selecting safe and suitable plants, read our guide to choosing plants for dart frog vivariums.

You can also explore our bioactive vivariums for examples of tropical foliage plants used in established planted enclosures.

Important Information

• Supplied as one established rooted cutting
• Also known as Hemigraphis repanda
• Plant size and leaf number will naturally vary
• Green leaves with purple to burgundy undersides
• May be pruned to maintain a compact shape
• Suitable for terrestrial or emersed planting only
• Not suitable for permanent underwater growth

You will receive one established rooted cutting. The photographs show representative plants from the available batch. Height, leaf number, leaf shape and the intensity of the purple colouring will naturally vary between individual plants.