Hate the game; don't hate the playa-grower - Nature Aquarium Society of Houston (NASH)

Paul Higashikawa · 05-04-2009, 07:23 PM

OK, this is JUST for you, Kev

Nymphoides spp. 'Taiwan' emersed. Notice the beautiful reddish striations.

The inflorescence. Ta-da!!!!! For some reason, it resembles so much to the Echinodorus flowers.

And last but not least, one of my cute turtles---Red belly slider!

Cavan Allen · 05-04-2009, 08:23 PM

Cool! This may be a great opportunity to get a species ID. Willing to sacrifice a specimen for science?

Paul Higashikawa · 05-04-2009, 09:01 PM

Cavan, I'd be more than willing to

Just lemme know what to do. Not sure how long the flowers will last so just lemme know as soon as possible.

kwc1974 · 05-05-2009, 04:21 AM

paulie, you the man. Now stop bragging

Cavan, I would definatly be interested in a correct Id of this. And I am sir Paul would donate the pics for plant finder should a write up be done. I have this plant in the tank and it grows very well, did have one leaf go "emersed" but it fell victim to a unplanned snip during prunning.

Cavan Allen · 05-05-2009, 05:42 AM

Basically, the best thing we can do is to make a pressed specimen of it. If we had a specialist and/or some good botanical descriptions on hand (or at least someone to send it to), that would be best. But failing that, having it pressed and preserved affords us all the time we need.

I've made a couple pressed specimens myself, but that was with proper equipment to which I have access. I have a pamphlet here about how to do it, so I could try to help you through that or...if you could send it to me in really good shape (it's possible), I could take care of the rest. Let me know.

davemonkey · 05-05-2009, 06:10 AM

That's GREAT!! Everything I read (which wasn't much) said these do not form emersed leaves, only floating submerged form.

It would be great to have a proper ID on this. It's a great grower that many hobbiests can enjoy, very easy so far for me, and I've killed LOTS of plants.

Thanks for sharing the photos, Paul.

-Dave

Navarro · 05-05-2009, 07:20 AM

Nice Paul! send to Cavan!

Paul Higashikawa · 05-05-2009, 09:50 AM

Yeah, I can do that. When I get home from work later today I will bag the specimen and ship them to ya.

Cavan, if you will, please e-mail me your address: surpaul@hotmail.com

So since I am no pressing expert, can you also let me know how you would like the specimen to be packaged if you have any tips.

Thank you

Cavan Allen · 05-05-2009, 10:09 AM

Could you send it Saturday? The flowers should last that long. If not, it should send up more, right? The reason I say that is because I'll be in the herbarium tomorrow but not again until next week. If it arrived Monday, that would be great.

If you want a flowering specimen to arrive in good shape, all you have to do is package it in slightly damp paper towels inside a plastic bag; ziplock are best because things tend to not get pinched in them. Then, just make sure it's packaged well, protected, etc. Not much different than if you were just sending someone plants. A little extra care is all that's needed.

I'll send you my e-mail. Thanks!

Cavan Allen · 05-05-2009, 10:47 AM

Oh, and take a bunch more pictures too. Closeups of the flowers especially.

If you can get seeds somehow, that would help too.

This may help (N. cristata?):
http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/china/P...nymphoides.pdf
http://aquat1.ifas.ufl.edu/node/291