A stem plant that behaves like a vine. Cardamine lyrata — Japanese Cress — carries small, round, ivy-like leaves on long trailing stems that creep across hardscape or climb toward the surface rather than standing upright. It also prefers cooler water than most tropical stems.
What You’ll Receive
- Sold as a Small Bare-root Plants, Bunched plants, or Potted plants
- Small bare-root | small rooted develop plants
- Bunched plants | rooted plants bundle with foam, and plant weight
- Potted plants | rooted developed plants potted with net pot and rock wool
Plant Profile
- Common name — Cardamine
- Scientific name — Cardamine lyrata
- Also known as — Japanese Cress, Chinese Ivy
- Origin — East Asia
- Placement — Midground; also trails over hardscape
- Mature height — 4–10 in
- Growth rate — Fast
Care
- Difficulty — Beginner
- Light — Medium
- CO₂ — Not required
- Water — 65–75°F · pH 6.5–7.5. Note the ceiling — this is a cool-water species
- Substrate — Not required, though a nutrient substrate gives fuller growth
- Growth habit — Amphibious. Also grows emersed in humid terrariums
- Propagation — Cuttings — trim and replant stem sections
Grower’s Notes
- Keep it under 75°F. Cardamine comes from temperate East Asia and thins out badly in a warm tropical tank. It suits room-temperature, lightly heated and coldwater setups — which is where most of its competition won't grow.
- Train it rather than plant it. Laid across wood or stone the stems creep and root as they go, giving a draped effect no upright stem plant produces.
- It arrives in emersed nursery form with round leaves. Submerged growth comes in a slightly different shape — that's the plant adapting, not a mislabel.
- Trim and replant cuttings; sections root readily from any node.
- Fast growth means regular trimming, or it reaches the surface and shades what's below.
Notes
- Cardamine lyrata ships in its emersed nursery form with round leaves. Once submerged, leaf shape may change and adapt to aquarium conditions. Some initial melting or leaf loss may occur during transition but new submerged growth will follow.
- Never release aquarium plants into natural waterways.
Shipping Policy
At Aquarium Plants Factory, we carefully package and ship all orders to ensure plants and livestock arrive healthy and ready to thrive.
Order Processing Time
Most orders are processed within 1–2 business days after payment is received.
Orders placed on weekends or holidays will be processed on the next business day.
Orders containing out-of-stock, pre-order, or backorder items may require additional handling time.
Once your order ships, tracking information will be sent to your email.
Shipping Schedule
Live Plants
Live plant orders ship Monday through Saturday when using United States Postal Service (USPS).
Most plant-only orders ship within 1–3 business days, excluding products that are out of stock, pre-order, or backorder.
Estimated USPS delivery time is 2–5 business days, depending on your location.
UPS Express Shipping
We offer the following UPS expedited shipping options:
UPS 2-Day Air®
Estimated delivery: 2 business days
Please note that UPS 2-Day Air® is not a guaranteed service in the event of carrier delays, weather disruptions, or operational issues.
UPS Next Day Air®
Estimated delivery: 1 business day
This service is guaranteed by UPS according to their service guarantee policies.
UPS expedited orders ship Monday through Wednesday only to ensure packages arrive within the same week and avoid weekend delays.
Please note that orders require 1–2 business days of handling time before shipment.
To help ensure same-week delivery, please place UPS orders on or before Tuesday at 6:00 AM Pacific Time (PT).
Live Animals Shipping
Live animal orders ship Monday through Wednesday only.
This schedule ensures animals arrive within the same week and do not remain in transit over the weekend.
Handling time for live animal orders typically ranges from 1–5 business days, depending on:
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Weather conditions
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Livestock health
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Shipping destination
Tracking information will be emailed once the order has been shipped.
Free Shipping
We offer Free Shipping on eligible orders over $150 within the contiguous United States.
Estimated delivery time for free shipping orders is 2–5 business days.
If your order contains both live plants and live animals, the shipment may be combined and the appropriate shipping rate will be shown at checkout.
Free Shipping is not available for customers located in:
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Alaska
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Hawaii
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Puerto Rico
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Guam
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U.S. Virgin Islands
Customers in these locations must select Expedited or Express shipping options at checkout.
Delivery Time Estimates
Delivery times shown at checkout are estimates provided by the shipping carrier.
While we work hard to ship orders quickly, delivery times may vary due to factors outside of our control, including:
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Weather conditions
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Carrier delays
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High shipping volumes
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Transportation disruptions
Aquarium Plants Factory is not responsible for shipping delays caused by the carrier.
Delayed or Lost Packages
Occasionally, shipments may take longer than expected.
A package is considered lost only after 15 business days (approximately 3 weeks) from the ship date.
If a package is confirmed lost by the carrier, we may offer a 50/50 replacement, meaning:
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Aquarium Plants Factory covers 50% of the replacement cost
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The customer covers 50% plus shipping
Address Accuracy
Customers are responsible for providing a complete and accurate shipping address when placing an order.
Please ensure that your address is correct when using payment methods such as:
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Credit / Debit Card
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PayPal
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Apple Pay
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Google Pay
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Amazon Pay
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Shopify Pay
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AliPay
Orders returned due to:
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Incorrect address
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Refused delivery
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Failed delivery attempts
may not be eligible for a refund.
Order Cancellations
If you need to cancel an order, please contact us as soon as possible.
Orders can only be canceled before they have been shipped.
Once an order has been shipped, it can no longer be canceled.
Returns
Due to the sensitive nature of live goods, all sales are final.
We do not accept returns or exchanges for:
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Live plants
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Live animals
For any shipping questions, please contact us before placing your order.
Aquarium Plants Factory
https://www.AquariumPlantsFactory.com
WHAT WE GUARANTEE
24 Hours Live Arrival Guarantee* - In a rare case of live stocks dead on arrival, we must be notified within 24 hours by the same day of delivery. Please take clear photos of the damaged product and send it to us within 24 hours. Live Arrival Guarantee will be void after 24 hours of delivery. All replacements are considered final and we will not replace the replacement.
- Picture requirements: Take at least 2 clear photos of damaged product in their original, unopened & sealed transparent packing and send photos and orders information to our email within 24 hours: aquariumplantsfactory@gmail.com
- Please do not take picture of damaged plants, or animals in your aquarium. Once they have been introduced to your aquarium's ecosystem. It is no longer covered by our guarantee.
Please be aware that our Live Arrival Guarantee is subject to certain conditions. Specifically, the guarantee will not be applicable in cases where the package is marked as 'invalid address', 'undeliverable' or is 'returned to sender.' This includes situations such as a vacant delivery address, a missing apartment number, or any other issues that prevent the postal service from delivering your package.
It is crucial to provide accurate and complete shipping information to ensure the successful delivery of your order and the applicability of the Live Arrival Guarantee.
Please keep in mind that Live Arrival Guarantee only guarantees that live stocks will be alive upon arrival. We cannot guarantee that you will continue to have success with them. Many factors, including the aquarium environment, water quality, nutrient, temperature, lighting, filter, and CO2 system, can contribute to the failure to grow live plants and live animals.
WHAT WE CAN'T GUARANTEE
Even though our plants are very clean, but we can't guarantee they will be 100% pest-free because we cannot be responsible for your aquarium. Please use it at your own risk. We recommended all customers rinse the plants with clean water and quarantine them before use.
However, plants in tissue culture will be 100% free from pests, algae and never have been contacting with any aquarium.
- Due to the nature of the product. We don't guarantee our plants will be pests free. ( snails, algae, hitchhikers )
- We don't guarantee our plants will be free of pesticides. We use homemade, organic pesticides in our greenhouse to control pests. We do not use pesticides that contain copper. Copper is toxic to invertebrates such as aquatic snails, crabs, shrimps, etc
- We don't guarantee your aquarium success or are responsible for your aquarium inhabitant including but not limited to fish, shrimp, snail, turtle, etc. So please quarantine all plants when use!
- Unless specific, we don't guarantee aquatic plants will be grow emerged or submerge.
Please review your state's regulations on restricted plants, as we are committed to not shipping plants that are restricted in your area. Do not release any plants into the wild or waterways, as this can harm local ecosystems by introducing invasive species.
Your cooperation in protecting the environment is appreciated. For continuously updated information, refer to the USDA State Noxious Weed list here.
Thank you for your responsible commitment to environmental preservation.
Customers praised these aquarium plants for arriving healthy with strong roots and minimal melting. Most reported quick growth and easy propagation. Shoppers noted "beautiful color" and "great condition" upon arrival. While most were satisfied, one customer received a plant with dead stems. Some experienced minor leaf melting during shipping but plants recovered quickly in tanks.
- Decently long roots when they arrived. Minimal melting with small boost of fertilizer and iron.
- Plants came strong and healthy. Thank you for on time shipping and healthy plants.
- Really nice portion, healthy plants, and a good price!
M
I have been ordering aquarium plants from aquarium plants factory on multiple occasions they’ve always excelled that their packaging, the quality of theirplants. This order was excellent as always, with the exception of the two CARDAMINE LYRATA one was an excellent condition, healthy, appearing and beautiful on the number of roots it had, however., The other plant I received was in poor condition. All the stems were dead, appearing and brown, I will include pictures as below.
J
Plants arrived on time. Beautiful plants in great condition. Will continue buying from them.
A
The specimen I got is vigorous, healthy, has beautiful color, and is a good size.
What I don't know if I like is there are roots growing at each node and I was hoping to grow this as a "shrub" in my scape, not laying it down and letting it carpet out. Also the plant looks a little smoothed like it was grown in a tube.
Don't get me wrong, great little plant and im confident that it will acclimate quickly to my tank and be a wonderful addition.
A
Good!
A
Theyve withstood and held firm into the media as corycats have been shuffling and snuffling in the substrate near them for a week so far, and had decently long roots when they arrived. Minimal melting a week in with a small boost of liquid fertilizer and iron.
A
Plants came strong and healthy. I'm excited to see them take off. Thank you for your on time shipping and healthy plants I really appreciate it
V
Small quantity for this plant, I’ve ordered many from them. But it came nice and green and I have 2 nice patches planted look like they’re already taking hold.
S
Very nice plants
J
1st time buyer and extremely satisfied with my order. The plants shipped quickly and arrived healthy. They are doing great in my tank! I definitely will be ordering more plants in the future.
s
I received this lyrata in my first order from APF and I absolutely love it! Really nice portion, healthy plants, and a good price!! Much better than this other plant site I had been ordering from. Their prices were too high for way less portion and quality.
B
Every plant I get from Aquarium Plants Factory is healthy and exceptional. My favorite online plant store!
A
It arrived a little melted do to shipping, but it almost immediately started thriving when I placed it in my aquarium!
D
Beautiful plant! Arrived with some leaves that had melted because of shipping time (due to post office not the fault of aquarium plants factory). Quickly revived when put in the tank and is now thriving.
A
The plants all arrived alive. There are a few dead leaves but as they got stuck over the weekend I expected as much.
D
Always comes in great shape. Love this place!
J
Quality was just ok, but that is to be expected. Still worth the price especially if you cant find this locally.
G
Beautiful healthy plants.fast shipping , every plant ive purchased has been healthy ,clean and grown well,will continue to purchase from apf.
M
Quick to grow and easy to keep and propagate.
C
Can you please tell me what type of lighting this plant prefers?
They prefer medium to high lighting. You can use any growth light, we use LED 6500k daylight.
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