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I was looking in my 10 gallon today, and I noticed a very strange plant in there, one that I know I did not buy from the store.

It must have been in there for a while (hidden from view by the Hygophilia, because at about 7" tall, this is not a small plant.

I have no idea how it got into the tank, and I have never seen a plant like it before.

It is a very light, bright green color (the pictures below don't do it justice), and has unusually, yet attractively, shaped leaves. The leaves appear to be very soft and have some damage from the snails, but overall the plant appears to be very healthy. It has smaller plants budding off of the parent plant's leaves, very similar to what a java fern does. Unlike a java fern, however, this plant has true roots and not a rhizome.

Can anyone identify this plant (even just a genus would be nice) or have any ideas about how it could have gotten into my tank? I moved it into my big tank, so it will have more room to grow.

Here are the pictures of it...





Thanks for any help.[/font][/font]

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I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

I am no plant expert but i believe it is just hygrophilia with bigger leaves. probably just the new better grown leaves because they were grown new in your tank.

http://www.tropica.com/productcard_1.asp?id=051
edit: i dont know how to do links

Last edited by Sonic2041 at 24-Mar-2005 21:55

Last edited by Sonic2041 at 24-Mar-2005 21:56

Last edited by Sonic2041 at 24-Mar-2005 21:56

Last edited by Sonic2041 at 24-Mar-2005 21:57

This may also help

http://www.tropica.com/plant_print.asp

Probably Wisteria - Hygro. Difformis.

Guess where the difformis part comes from ? The leave will take on different shapes depending on conditions. It could look like this because of lack of light if it was stuck in back. More light and the leaves should change to the more pinnate smaller form.

Slight chance it could be Mexican Oak Leaf, cos the leaves are well...oak leaf shaped.

Stick it in some good light and see if it changes

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Some days you're the pigeon and some days you're the statue.

Remember that age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability.

definitely looks like wisteria to me as well

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"That's the trouble with political jokes in this country... they get elected!" -- Dave Lippman

More light and the leaves should change to the more pinnate smaller form.

Yeah, I was wondering why it didn't look like any H. difformis I had seen before, but that explains it. The surface of the tank I pulled it out of is nearly completely covered with duckweed (which the pencils love), and so the tank is significantly darker than it used to be.

I wonder how this plant got in my tank though... My store has never once carried H. difformis in the eight months I've been working there. This plant literally just appeared out of nowhere.

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I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

Cory, the W. difformis can have come from just a tiny piece of leaf that was floating in your duckweed, this stuff has amazing regenrative powers. I have it in my tank and a tiny plant like you show on your photo can grow into a foot sized plant in three weeks time. young new plants will generally grow on old decaying leaves, I tend to grow a plant until I think it's too big, then take it out of the tank and replant the young plantlets that I find on the older leaves, they're big in a matter of weeks.

Last edited by Dr. Bonke at 25-Mar-2005 03:38

Actually it looks like Water Sprite to me. Difformis is a stem plant, Water Sprite is more rosette and baby plants will form from the leaves.

To me, it looks like a Water sprite variant - Ceratopteris Cornuta. I have the exact same plant as you, and I have identified it as that.

Can you see the "roots" dangling and a new plant forming? Classic way of ceraopteris reproducing Wisteria doesn't do that.

Compleatly agree with Dr. Bonke on how it got into your tank, in fact that's how most of mine started. There was a single small leaf that I could see a bit of a root starting on, being the person I was I couldnt' throw it out so let it grow roots a bit and then planted it.

^_^



[hr width='40%']"There’s an emptiness inside her. And she’d do anything to fill it in.
And though it’s red blood bleeding from her now. It's more like cold blue ice in her heart.
She feels like kicking out all the windows. And setting fire to this life."

uhmmm yes, I should have double checked the name of the plant, it is a Ceratopteris indeed.