Gratuitous Unusual Plant Pics - 56K Warning

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travis simonson

Aquarium Advice Addict
Joined
Dec 19, 2004
Messages
2,073
Location
Englewood, CO
Well I spent several hours on the phone with czcz (aka Joe) last night talking about all of the rare plants we would like to get our hands on and trading info on those we do have. I was amazed at the variety and diversity of his collection so I thought I would start a thread with some photos of some of my new plants in hopes that Joe (and anyone else with photos to share) would post pics of his wild collection. I just love looking at interesting, rare, unusual, hard-to-find, oddball plants. Post 'em if you got 'em :p

I'm not sure if this is a hard-to-find plant but it's the first time I've come across it. The bright green feathery-leaved plant in the center of the picture is Myriophyllum hippuroides and is one of the best background plants (even for large/deep tanks) I have ever found. It grows like mad, gets very bushy, and is completely undemanding.

M_hippuroides_031105_x800.jpg


This is Mayaca sellowiana, a great mid-ground accent plant. It has some of the finest leaves I have ever seen and looks absolutely great until it has spent a week or so under the tender mercies of my African cichlids, at which time it generally begins to resemble a wet cat :p

M_sellowiana_031105_x800.jpg


A very recent addition to my tank and a plant that I have absolutely no experience with: Lagenandra thwaetesii (say that five times fast :p ). It has a vague resemblance to the Cryptocoryne genus and supposedly prefers similar conditions. L. thwaetesii is one of the few species of Lagenandra that will grow submersed. I'm anxious to see where this plants goes.

Lagenandra_thwaetesii_031105_x800.jpg


Hottonia palustris, one of my favorite plants. Under good lighting it grows in a very compact and bushy manner. The color is brilliant against a dark background. This is a fairly easy to care for plant that grows quickly once established. The pink plant to the right of it is Rotala macrandra "Variegated" which should have bright pink leaves with white veination when it begins to put out submersed growth. Should be cool looking :)

Hottonia_palustris_031105_x800.jpg


The small, light-green, needle-leaved plant in the center of this pic is Bacopa myriophylloides, a type of Bacopa that is fairly new to the hobby. I love the way it stands out against the darker Pogostemon stellata "Broad-leaf" behind it. This is another new addition that I have very little experience with but hope to propagate :)

Bacopa_myriophylloides_031105_x800.jpg


The red plant in the foreground is Myriophyllum tuberculatum "Red" which I think makes a great contrast with its cousin Myriophyllum matogrossense "Green" in the background. Both of these plants push the most-syllables-in-a-name barrier and come from the rivers of Brazil's Mato Grosso region. They are light-loving plants with extremely fine, branching leaf structure, but are surprisingly hardy and tolerate a wide range of water conditions.

Myriophyllum_tuberculatum_Red_031105_x800.jpg



OK, I'm finally done. Hope you enjoyed the pics and looking forward to seeing yours :D
 
Looking great Travis. Unfortunately any of the oddball plants in my collection are the result of you. Perhaps I'll stop by lowcoasters this month and see if he has anything unusual.
 
Thanks Brian. You're so lucky to live near Charley (aka lowcoaster). Most of the plants in the pics above came from him. As a shameless plug, if anyone is interested they can get on Charley's plant mailing list by sending him an email at beadgc@nyc.rr.com. He is awesome about getting special orders for any of the plants he doesn't have. And he doesn't charge an arm and a leg for shipping and is willing to send out orders for just a few plants. My favorite place to go for plants :)
 
Travis. I can only dream of having a tank as lucious as yours! Whats your secret? Is it hard to keep clean? or do the plants do most of the "dirty" work on their own?

whats your carpet plant? would it grow in 2.2 wpg? :-D
 
Thanks sudz :) I'm not sure I have any secrets to keeping plants. I just try to maintain stable, consistent nutrient levels. Good test kits really help. My African cichlids oblige me and do a great deal of the fertilization themselves :p

The carpet plant in the pic in my signature is Elatine triandra, which should grow really well under 2.2 wpg and doesn't (from what I hear) even require CO2. I have since removed it because it just grew too fast and was a real pain to keep up with. Right now I'm working on growing a Downoi (Pogostemon helferi) foreground. I've never seen anyone do it before so I'm really just trying it to see if it can be done. I'll post some pics if it works :)
 
Wow. Bacopa myriophylloides and Lagenandra thwaetesii look especially neat. Pearling Myriophyllum sp. pic is just ridiculous.

Got the new ones today. It will be a minute for pics. Here is a pic of Phyllanthus fluitans aka "Red root floater" from a few days ago in the meantime. Easy to grow: little flowers are cool after total failure with Ludwigia sedoides:
Phyllanthus%20fluitans.jpg


Brian, post pics of your stuff after it adapts to your tank please. I am very interested in Downoi and P. stellata growth especially :)

Joe
 
This is the little grouping I told Travis I liked a lot. The downoi creeped around on its own and does not seem to mind being shaded by P. stellata "broad leaf." I topped A. reineckii and P. stellata "broad leaf" to the same height and let them race by the way, and considering reputation its interesting that the latter won.
downoi_1103.jpg


From the top
downoi1103_top.jpg


Here is what it used to look like. I am going to split up downoi as he recommended and use it as a mid ground right behind ET I think.
downoi0929.jpg


Tonina sp. "belem." This plant is said to demand soft water and acidic substrate. Old growth has turned transparent but new growth has not, at least. I am considering putting peat plates under it or placing it into pots with a peat layer.
tonina_belem1103.jpg


P. stellata "narrow leaf." These are my last three stems and am passing on stunted stems in hopes someone propogates it better than I have. I really love this plant: I first got it in May or so and it was the plant that made me learn something about nutrients and such. If these guys stunt I am done with it until I get a bigger tank.
pogostemon_stellata1103.jpg


The new ones. Please correct me if I am wrong with IDs. I will take pics after they recover from shipping and grow:

Junus repens. Tough to plant.
juncus_repens1103.jpg


Rotala ramosior, a native plant that I believe was collected emersed. It arrived curled unto itself and hope it straightens out ok.
rotala_inclinata1103.jpg


Rotala rotundifolia (indica?) 'colorata'? Travis is growing stuff much more colorful but I do not know if this is emersed growth, but it appears to be the closest match to sent plant list.
rotala_colorata1103.jpg


Ludwigia inclinata var. verticillata 'Cuba'
ludwigia_inclinata_cuba1103.jpg


Ludwigia repens 'Rubin' -- From what I have been told, in many ways I can treat this as regular repens, and so will propogate it because it is too big for my tank as is :)
ludwigia_repens_rubin1103.jpg


Polygonum hydropiperoides
Polygonum_hydropiperoides1103.jpg


Also got some sweet emersed growth I have to squeeze into paludarium project logged on this site, and will update that thread later.

sudz,
If you do not mind propogating a small portion, I am almost ready to share ET. I have some living in a med light/ambient sunlit tank with CO2 and I think it will grow with your light too. PM me.
 
:D awesome pics Joe. Both you and Travis are as good with a camera as you are with plants. I'll post some pics of the downoi and P stellata in about a week.
 
Just figured I'd drop another shameless plug for charley (aka lowcoaster). I've been to his home and his fish room should be renamed "aquatic garden room". The man is absolutely ingenious. I promised I would never reveal his secrets but he can grow anything in his tanks.

Travis...I had no idea you knew him. I will certainly bring you up when I speak to him next. He also happens to be a member of the GCAS.
 
Now those are some unusual plants. It will be interesting to see how the all turn out, whether their foliage changes considerably as they grow. And your Tonina is looking very good, much better than the plants that you sent me are faring. Hopefully mine will come around because yours looks so cool :)
 
Gratuitious but clearer week later pics. :)

P. stellata "broad leaf" and Downoi.
pstellata_broadleaf1110.jpg


*Hope* it gets close to the purple Travis gets. You can see here that Tonina sp. "Belem" still does not like me.
pstellata_broadleaf+tonina1110.jpg


Juncus repens
juncus_repens1110.jpg


Submersed growth from emersed Rotala ramisor. So far it kind of looks like R. rotundifolia, but with more pointed leaves. Still early Travis, but I think you will love this plant when you see it.
rotala_inclinata1110.jpg


Rotala rotundifolia (indica?) 'colorata' (I think). Emersed growth died back quick but hope this new growth makes it.
rotala_colorata1110.jpg


Ludwigia inclinata var. verticillata 'Cuba.' Kind of cool but growth does not change color for a few days.
ludwigia_inclinata_cuba1110.jpg


Emersed (?) Polygonum hydropiperoides starting to adapt.
Polygonum_hydropiperoides1110.jpg


Travis pointed me to this tank, which belongs to one of our members. Hopefully she chimes in because it is super cool with many interesting species, and I only hope to grow some as well as she has:
http://showcase.aquatic-gardeners.org/2004.cgi?&Scale=514&op=showcase&category=0&vol=1&id=57

Joe
 
Those are some nice plants that everyone has. I see a few in this thread that I am going to have to try and find out here on the west coast. I don't have anything that is particularly exotic. But, I do have a few less common plants that I would like to share ;-)

First, I have my own little patch of Hottonia palustris. I got a little tiny sprig stuck in another buch of plants I bought. I have been carefully nursing that little piece into a nice little grouping. You can also see my female Dwarf Gourami posing for the shot.
Hottonia1.JPG


Last weekend at the SVAS auction I picked up this "Marbled Vallisneria". It is still pretty small. This shot is of three 3" tall plants in a group. I will move these once they get a little taller.
VariegatedVal1.JPG


This shot shows some Selaginella wildenowii which I attached partially emersed to some driftwood. This is not a true aquarium plant. But I am hoping to have some success by letting some stick above the water line. I really liked the way it looked. just below it is some "Java Lace Fern" This stuff produces a million zillion plantlets which look awsome. I used a rubber band to hold all the plantlets to the driftwood until they take root.
Selaginella1.JPG


My personal favorite is the Marbled Sword (Variegated). It is most likely an Echinodorus cordifolius 'Tropica Marble Queen'. but when I bought it it was only labeled Variegated Sword. It was also much more marbled then and was probable emersed growth. This plant has produced no less than 15 plantlets in the last 5 months. I planted 3 near its base. The rest are scattered around other tanks or sold. The plantlets exhibit very little marbling. I have my eye out for an Ocelot Sword, which I think will compliment this one nicely.
Also in this shot is my grove of Rotala rotundifolia (aka Gourami Nest Central), and in back is a Nymphoides aquatica "Banana Plant".
VariegatedSword-far1.JPG


Here is a close up of a newer leaf.
VariegatedSword-close1.JPG


Finally, here is my Crytocoryne Wentii "Bronze", which is in front. In back is another Bronze Crypt which I suspect is a Cryptocoryne beckettii. The left side of the pick has "Narrow leaf chain sword"Echinodorus tenellus.
C_Wendtii1.JPG


That shot you can also see a leaf or two of a plant I just bought, I am calling it Green Temple, until I can properly identify it. Here is a closer pic. I don't think it is uncommon. I just really like the way the veins looked in the leaves.
G-Temple1.JPG


;-)
 
Holy crap! I will have more to say about those plants after some research. Wicked man! Thanks for the contribution :D

btw I'm a huge fan of Hottonia palustris. So bushy :)
 
ok! add p stellata and downoi to the ever growing list of beautiful plants that i want!

NICE tank czcz!
 
Hottonia palustris and Crypt groupings are especially nice Zezmo. Like the marbeled val a lot too. I read Tom Barr did a lecture on planted marine aquariums for SVAS recently. I hear SFBAAPS meetings are amazing. I wish we had such clubs here.

Thanks crazycat :)
 
Surely there are some more pictures of unusual species to be posted? (in other words, bump...)
 
Travis I love the Myriophyllum hippuroides and especially Covet that fine leaved Bacopa.

CZ I love that Stellata. I hope your experiments work because it is a lovely plant.

Zez your Hottonia palustris is a truly lovely plant.

:)
 
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