Anacharis, elodea, elodia, egeria What is what?

[fish_4_all]

I have been trying to figure out which is which. Note, TRYING!
It hasn't worked. I think most of the problems some have with anacharis/elodea is different species. One probably takes root much better than the other. One does better floating and there has to be many other differences that lead to the success of one and the frustration of people like me with this plant/plants!
How do you know the difference between these:
Egeria densa, Egeria najas, Elodea nuttallii, ELODEA canadensis,
Lagarosiphon major

Can anyone tell me the difference between them all and if one will root easier than another?

 

[travis simonson]

Check here for good pics and descriptions:

http://www.plantgeek.net/plantguide.php

 

[fish_4_all]

That is where I got all the names. No mention of what ones root well, which ones are better rooters, which ones are thicker or thinner. Just a basic here it is. I want personal experiences from fellow club members who remember which species they truely got and the results they got.

 

[Jchillin]

It is only one plant. The naming is confusing because of the Naming Conventions and common misspellings. Sites like Plantgeek provide all of the names as a service to the hobbyist.

The plant meanwhile does not root well at all. You will have to be very creative with your substrate in order to keep it submerged. It will grow whether you root it or leave it floating.

 

[Hoovercat]

Not to be argumentative, J but I bought Egeria najas at my local Superpets labeled as "anacharis" and it is a quite different plant than Egeria densa. The leaf nodes aten't nearly as tight on the Najas and it branches much more frequently than densa. I haven't had any other varieties though.

 

[fish_4_all]

No arguements here, just good points. I thought there were different ones but then I have had the exact same plant in two different tanks look VERY different. I think there needs to be a lot more research. There has to be a botanical site or something that compares the varieties, if they truely exist and tells their prefered growth medium.

 

[tpenn]

This website may help with your question: http://aquat1.ifas.ufl.edu/photos.html#e

Technically, there is no such plant as Anacharis. Its is a genera no longer used to describe several members of the family Hydrocharitaceae, which includes the plants you are asking about. I don't know where you live, but many members of this family are highly invasive species and in the U.S. may be illegal to posses. From experience, Elodea candensis does not root nearly as well as Egeria densa. Cheers.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Good info there tpenn. Love the site....

 

[fish_4_all]

Well I can say this. I have what was called anahcaris from MLF a few months ago and it would not take root ever. I must have gotten densa from Lone, Thank you, because it is taking root and is actually rather difficult to uproot. It is also much nicer a plant than I have had of that type with much denser tops and new growth. Maybe somebody is selling a cold water species of it and that is why we have such time with some of it. I know there is a lake close to me that has a plant that looks almost identical to mine and I pull it up by the hundreds when I pull up my anchor. That is when I get to go fishing.

Looking at the site, the densa grows in a lake/cannal system in Ocean Shores and the Elodea canadensis grows in other places. Might be the same plant but at least one of them grows by the ton in my local lakes and ponds.