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Monster Sagittaria!

19K views 37 replies 12 participants last post by  ddavila06 
#1 ·
This is a 29 high gallon tank with some plants collected in the Jackson, Mississippi area. In front are a couple of Ludwigia palustris plants, to the right are some E. cordifolius, one of them producing floating leaves. The really big plants behind the Ludwigia are a local Sagittaria, possibly S. platyphylla. I collected them 24 days ago and they are just getting bigger and bigger. So far, they have only produced submersed leaves, but they may start producing emersed leaves with petioles and oval blades which I have seen on some plants in the field. So far, there have been no runners produced.



This is a picture of the Sag. where I collected it.
 
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#3 ·
Jeez----I can't get anybody interested in the monster sag!

It isn't easy to tell L. palustris from L. repens. Leaf shape is very similar. The L. repens flower has small petals, whereas the L. palustris flower has no petals. The fruit (capsule) of L. repens is longer and sometimes larger than the capsule of L. palustris. I picked up a Ludwigia in the San Marcos river that had large fruit capsules and which I am pretty sure is L. repens. Right now it is growing shaded over by other plants, but I hope to get it growing with L. palustris to see if I can see any differences in submersed growth.
 
#7 · (Edited)
Thanks for the comments on the Sag!

L. repens is well represented in Texas and even up into Oklahoma, but it has not been reported in Mississippi. Along the East coast, there are records up through North Carolina, and then one isolated record in New Jersey. L. palustris is well represented in Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin. There aren't too many records of it in Illinois, probably because there is almost nothing but corn there. :)
 
#10 ·
It has a unique look. I think there are some garden plants that look kind of like it. I wonder if it has any value for aquascaping. Maybe not, it makes a big tank look little. I think most aquascapers these days want plants that make a little tank look big.
 
#15 ·
Decades ago, I collected a similar sagittaria from a pond in central Oklahoma. This was before I had a clue about how to grow plants in aquaria. But I put it in a pot in a 60 gal with two oscars. Amazingly, they didn't destroy it! And it grew pretty well under incadescent (!) light for about nine months before I tore down the tank.

So giant sagittaria might find a following among cichlid keepers.
 
#21 ·
Latest picture: These are big plants in an 18 inch high aquarium. The leaves are over 1 foot long and an inch to an inch and a quarter wide. The largest plant has produced a leaf with a petiole and an oval blade. The rest are still producing flat leaves. There are three visible runners now. I can ship out two floating plants now, one dollar each plus priority mail charges. PM me. There will be more plants available later from the runners.

I cut off all the floating leaves from the E. cordifolius.

 
#23 ·
I have two floaters I can send now. I would prefer to only send one to a person unless you are the only one who is currently interested. One dollar plus shipping charges, PayPal. PM me and tell me if you need a heat pack. There will soon be more new plants for shipping from the runners that are now being produced. My best guess is that the species is Sagittaria platyphylla. The location maps for that species show it clustered in the south central states, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana Oklahoma, and Texas.

DonaldMBoyer, do you want one?
 
#24 ·
Hey Paul......I'm just curious: is it possible that this species could be stunted by high light? Mine have grown nicely, and send up new leaves once every two weeks or so. The coloration looks really nice, but the leaves just don't get any bigger than 8" or so.

It's in the center of this photo:


Picture was taken on 4/8/12.....what are your thoughts? Is it still acclimating maybe? It has plenty of ferts, both in the water column and in the substrate, CO2, nice water flow (not too fast...relatively gentle current). No runners yet either.

I'm perplexed!
 
#25 ·
Mine certainly got bigger as can be seen in the pictures. I had 2, 55 watt, compact fluorescents with American Hobbyist reflectors on a 29 gallon tank. How does that compare to your lighting? Maybe yours will continue to get bigger, but it certainly wouldn't be bad if they stayed at that size. I think the plant is going to get bigger.
 
#27 ·
I don't think that higher light will stunt the plant very much. I wouldn't be surprised to see it reach the surface in two or three months with good nutrient and CO2 levels. It is going to mess up the balance of the tank when it does because it is near the front.
 
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