[Metalmaid]

In one of my aquariums I have two spieces of Echinodorus that looks alike but not identical.

The upper leaf is from the plant to the right, the lower leaf is from the plant to the left.

The Ech. to the right was planted about a month ago and has recently produced a runner with adventiveplants, the Ech. to the left was planted in october 2007 and haven´t produced any runners during the time I´ve had it.

Both plants are bought as Ech. bleheri but as far as I can see one of them is another spicies. Can anyone help me to ID them?

 

[miremonster]

Hello Metalmaid,
I think it's still too early to say that they are really different. The leaves with longer stalks may have grown under different conditions, and swords are very "plastic".
But even if they would be different after long time of growth under the same conditions, both belong to the Echinodorus grisebachii group. E. bleherae is the most frequently sold form of this group, but there are several other forms in the trade one could more or less number among E. parviflorus or E. amazonicus that are also forms of the E. grisebachii group.

 

[Metalmaid]

Thanks miremonster

I guess I just have to wait and se how the new one develope then. (And surf the net for E. grisebachii during the time I wait for answer.)

 

[miremonster]

Unfortunately there is confusion in the aquarium hobby about the name E. grisebachii. For many years aquarists and traders use the name E. grisebachii erroneously for a "chain sword" (runner-producing small Echinodorus, now genus Helanthium) of the Echinodorus bolivianus group. But partly aquarists name several plants as E. grisebachii that actually belong to the E. grisebachii group, too. There are different meanings if this group comprises only one very variable species with different forms, or several species. The "species" (or forms) of the E. grisebachii group used as aquarium plants are difficult to distinguish.