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Plant ID Help


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#1 Guest_dsaavedra_*

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Posted 20 March 2010 - 05:39 PM

found several of these in a clear flowing part of a stream that feeds into St. Mary's Lake in Southern Maryland. its part of the St. Mary's River Watershed. any ideas on what this plant is? i was thinking some sort of crypt. i took it out of a flowing section of the stream, out of sand, do you think it will do alright in the gravel i have in my tank?

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#2 Guest_gerald_*

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Posted 21 March 2010 - 09:51 AM

Might be Sparganium americanum, burr-reed. It can grow emergent with stiff erect leaves, or submersed with floppy leaves waving in the current. Tricky to keep in aquarium.

#3 Guest_nativeplanter_*

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Posted 21 March 2010 - 10:03 AM

It does look like a Sparganium from here. Hard to tell from a photo, especially since my books are at work, but I'm guessing S. eurycarpum. I can check on Monday. Having it in flower would be the only way to be sure of the exact species.

If you can keep it alive in an aquarium, I'll be impressed. And I'll want to know what your conditions are. I've never been able to do it an have given up on trying to keep anything from that genus in captivity (fully submerged, anyway). But somehow it is able to do survive in a submersed form in streams, so there must be a way.

#4 Guest_dsaavedra_*

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Posted 21 March 2010 - 10:27 AM

from looking through google images, it really doesn't look like sparganium. all of the plants were very short and looked just like the one in the photo. they were all fully submersed, and they were in a tiny stream back in the woods, which doesn't look like the habitat i'm seeing on google images. but you guys know more than i do... what about some sort of sagittaria?

Edited by dsaavedra, 21 March 2010 - 10:28 AM.


#5 Guest_Newt_*

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Posted 21 March 2010 - 03:42 PM

I'm inclined to agree with the Sparganium ID. The pics you've seen may have been mature plants. The young ones look much different. I've seen a lot of S. americanum just about that size here in TN lately; our climate is very close to Maryland's, so I'd guess yours would be in the same stage of development. Sagittaria tend to have finer roots than that.

#6 Guest_dsaavedra_*

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Posted 21 March 2010 - 04:36 PM

well i planted them in my tank, i'll take a picture tonight after the sun goes down, so it will show up better. they're really bright green, i don't like them too much...

#7 Guest_dsaavedra_*

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Posted 21 March 2010 - 08:21 PM

here is a pic of them planted, if that helps:

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#8 Guest_dsaavedra_*

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Posted 28 March 2010 - 08:37 PM

well i've had them in there since whenever i last posted, and they've grown a few inches since then. some of them have died, but those were the ones that weren't in good shape to begin with.

#9 Guest_panfisherteen_*

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Posted 29 March 2010 - 10:21 PM

well way to go if theyre tricky to keep and they are growing in your tank (with exception of the dead ones :fishy: )




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