EDGE

Ignore the photo quality. This was taken in a low light setting without flash.

I got a clump of 4 plant for c$ 3.00.

I think its wendtii 'Chameleon'

Art_Giacosa

Are you sure this is a Cryptocoryne?

EDGE

Here is a photo of the roots on the plant

btw, if this is chameleon, it is a hybrid plant.

Art_Giacosa

EDGE,

It looks like a rhizome. I have not seen a Crypt with leaves like that. The plant looks more like an anubias than a crypt to me. I don't know of a wendtii hybrid with variagated leaves.

EDGE

There is a photo of 'Chameleon' in the aquarium plant handbook. It is a hybrid created in Singapore.

I saw a couple of anubias with similar leave pattern as well, but I dont like anubias so I didn't get it.

A couple months ago, I saw this crypt at another store going for 7.99 a plant. . At $3 for 4, I just couldn't resist getting it.

Art_Giacosa

Do you mean from Oriental Aquarium?

Never seen it. You're gonna have to flower it for a semi-definite determination.

EDGE

Good question, The title of the book is 'The Aquarium Plant Handbook'
It is a coilbook.

On the back of the book, it does say Oriental Aquarium

I dont have the proper setup for flowering crypt. It is in 2.5" deep water with 1.5" sand/peat substrate. light is 4" away from the water.

I am using this setup to experiment with growing foreground plants in shallow water and 15watt NO bulb.

I had help building the tank out of wood and pond liner.
I would need to build a custom dome if I want it to grow plants out of the water.

Svante

I agree with art_giacosa in that it is probably not even a crypt at all, as he says, it looks to me lika an anubias, especially when you look at the roots, a crypt normally dont have that sort of root system, and when i look at the roots, it looks like if they have the same thing as anubias roots have, that is some small white rootr threads going out from the main root, that grabs hold of some surface, bogwood for instance ...

//Svante

Phil Edwards

I'm going to have to agree with Svante and Art on this one. That looks like an Anubias to me.

Reasons:
1. None of the Crypts I've grown or seen have photosynthetic roots like those large green ones. Anubias do.

2. Root structure: Crypts don't have the larger "anchor" roots with smaller branch roots coming off the anchors. As an epiphyte, Anubias have them all over the place.

3. Rhizome structure: Crypts tend to have a vertical rhizome with leaves coming out of a central budding region to generally form a rosette shape. Your pictures show a pretty clear horizontal rhizome with leaves coming out of one side usually indicative of a creeping-type rhizome that Anubias have.

4. Leaf structure: The strong central vein and pinnate venation is typical of Anubias. Crypts tend to have a palmate vein structure with three main veins and a webwork of branch veins between them throughout the leaf.

5. Leaf damage and thickness: Crypt leaves generally can't withstand the kind of damage your picture shows and still be healthy. The plant generally drops leaves with that much damage. On the contrary, I see Anubias with that much damage all the time.

Overall, it looks to me like some sort of variagated A. frazeri which, at the price you paid, is total steal! I buy regular small A. frazeri _wholesale_ for about $3.00 US apiece.

BTW, your setup sounds just about perfect for growing crypts, bring the light up another 4 inches and you're golden.

tsunami

Could your plant be a species of Aglaonema? It doesn't look like any Anubias or Cryptocoryne I've ever seen. Looks almost like some houseplants I see in the nurseries of south Florida.

Carlos