urbanherbalist

Hey all,

I'm new to the Pittsburgh area from Phoenix. I was wondering what species of plants typically show up at the meetings/auction? I might have to make room in a tank!

Thanks,
urbanherbalist

thesawguy

Welcome to Pittsburgh Urbanherbalist! I've only been to a few PAPAS meetings but it seems like people try to switch things up for the auction. And there do seem to be a few regulars but there have also been new faces every time I've been, so it's hard to guess what might show up in the auction. As stated on the website it's mostly a few clippings of any given species that would otherwise be thrown away, as the profit goes to the club, for pizza, soda, speakers, or other needs/projects I guess. Everything I've gotten through the auctions has worked out well and the auctioneer is knowledgeable about growing requirements and so on. At least a couple of officers post here sometimes and they will probably be better to answer any other questions you might have.

All that being said I've repeatedly noticed Hygrophila augustifolia, Myrio. mattogrossense, and Limnophila aromatica floating around. Those might just stand out to me as I'm also often trying to thin those varieties out.

JeffyFunk

Urbanherbalist - My apologies for the delayed response. The advantage of attending and becoming a member of PAPAS is the varied selection of unusual aquatic plant species that we auction off at each meeting. As an officer of the club, I have the privilege of having a list of species that are auctioned off. On a personal level, i try to not donate the same plant every meeting (otherwise it risks being too common and predictable). That said, the auction is usually a variable lot of common and uncommon species. Over the past 6 months, some of the more unusual plants that have been auctioned off include:

Hygrophilia sp 'Brown'
Lindernia grandifolia
Staurogyne stolonifolia
Gratiola viscidula
Penthorum sedoides
Ammannia latifolia
Microsorum sp 'Tropica'
Microsorum sp 'Trident'
Acmella repens

This is just a partial list, of course, but it gives you a sense of the breadth of plants a lot of us grow - many of which will probably not be found at your local fish store. If you have any other questions, feel free to let me know.

MagpieTear

Mosses, We have mosses!
Flame, Willow, Fissiden fontanus, species "Awesome" (unidentified taxiphyllum) and I'm sure a few others are in a regular rotation.

Crypts are fairly regular, at least the Wendtii variants, undulata, balanese shows up every now and then if I remember correctly.

Cabomba Carolinia "Silvertip" and regular, a number of Hygro's seem to keep coming back, and a host of others.

Swing on by a meeting, introduce yourself, for the most part we're a rather informal bunch and rarely bite or gnaw on prospective members. And if you're looking for something in particular, post it up. A lot of us would love to find a new home for our clippings and daughter plants, so we can farm out something new!