Aquatic Plant Forum banner

Eleocharis Belem vs Eleocharis Japan (Japanese hairgrass)

55K views 33 replies 15 participants last post by  Matt F. 
#1 ·
Eleocharis sp?

Hi guys!,
Can somebody tell me the difference between Eleocharis sp parvula "Japanese hairgrass" and Eleocharis belem??

The leaves tend to curl downwards on both species, just wondering if there was an obvious difference between the two.
 
#3 ·
Re: Eleocharis sp?

From my understanding, there is Eleocharis parvula "Japanese hairgrass", grows short and leaves tend to curl downwards.

Eleocharis parvula "Dwarf hairgrass", also grows short like the "Japanese hairgrass" but the leaves remain erect.

Now, Eleocharis belem is new to me and only heard about this plant a couple weeks ago.
Never had the chance to grow it yet and compare.
We are a bit slow with new/introduced exotic plants in Australia, I hope we can get some available soon.:)
 
#4 · (Edited)
I'm going to make a trade for an Eleocharis belem from a fellow member (from another forum) for my Eleocharis japan... When we swapped pictures, I saw his eleocharis belem is very similar to my eleocharis japan (japanes hairgrass)... So now I'm confused with the difference between the two... Is it the same plant sp. but just called/named differently? I need some enlightenment and would like to know if I really have eleocharis japan... Here's a pic:



Thanks in advance! :)
 
#12 ·
I think, but I'm not 100% procent sure but I think tom barr over on plantedtank.net said he had some hairgrass belem and posted photos.
 
#13 · (Edited)
I think I saw that thread over at tpt, thanks for the heads up... Though the description of their difference is also based on their submersed form... Like Cavan mentioned, we could really tell the difference if we have them flowered emersed... I might get some specimen (trade) of the belem in the next week or so, I'll try to grow some emersed as well as my japan...

Totally forgot to update about acquiring an emersed flower of the japan... Well, according to a friend, whom I got the japan from, he never saw his emersed japan flower for almost a year or two (I think) now... We even tried scouring through the mini jungle japan bush from our last plant club meeting and nada... Well I think I'm gonna update again once we get the japan flower... Any tips how to speed up the porcess??? :)
 
#14 ·
Wow, this is a cool thread. I really like these hairgrasses in my tank. Reading these posts takes me back to my Local Flora class in college.

I tried looking up Eleocharis belem and Japanese Hairgrass in plant taxonomy databases, I was able to find the genus but not the species. This makes me wonder if Eleocharis belem is officially recognize? If anyone manage to get spikes of these plants under a dissectoscope, please be sure to take some pictures! :wave:
 
#20 ·
Related threads:
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/plant-id/59650-eleocharis-minima-eleocharis-parvula.html
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/...s-discussions/63330-dwarf-mini-hairgrass.html
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/...293-eleocharis-parvula-growing-downwards.html
Names used in the hobby and trade for the rather short hairgrass(es) curling downward, as far as I have found:
Eleocharis "Belem", "Japan", parvula, minima, pusilla. E. pusilla is in Kasselmann (2010), Aquarienpflanzen, it seems to refer to the "E. parvula" that is sold in Europe, looking like the "Belem" in Matt's pics.
According to Kasselmann 2010 the species E. pusilla is native of Australia and New Zealand, it was imported from Australia by the company Tropica, it's in the trade since 1997 (also as "parvula").

Tropica itself labels its dwarf hairgrass as E. parvula. Who knows if it's still the same strain as the one from Australia then.
If the "Belem" above originates from plants collected in the area of Belem (Brazil) indeed, it shouldn't be E. pusilla.
 
#24 ·
Thx, interesting. Whatever species these hairgrasses might be botanically, good to know that they are different, and one can hope that they are not mixed up in the trade, as the different height is important for the use in aquascaping.

Just to be settled if "Belem" and "Japan" are different or not - at least the submerged look under same conditions.
 
#25 ·
This is driving me nuts.:rolleyes: I've grown this submersed, emersed, with co2 and without.
I just did a "plant profiles" thread over at the SFBAAPS on Eleocharis "Belem"

Here is a cut'n'paste from that thread:

Okay, well, I didn't see a catagory for my favorite low maintenance foreground plant, so I'm creating one.
Not much, if anything, is known about the origins of this low-growing dwarf hairgrass. I don't think anyone knows the actual species name, either. I do know that the grass we have circulating throughtout the SFBAAPS (and maybe in greater arenas now) originally came from Aqua Forest Aquarium in San Francisco. Years ago, AFA was selling this haigrass at $20 per quarter-sized pinch. I wouldn't be suprised if they were one of the original importers of this variety.

Growth Characteristics:

Phase I




















Initially fills in and stays low <2"

Phase II












when it runs out of room, and after multiple trimmings, it starts growing on top of itself. Max height 2-3"

Grown emersed:
















 
#26 ·
I just rescaped my 60P a day before I took this picture. Removed some stems and gave the E. "Belem" more real estate:


A little background on how I came upon this plant...

Aqua Forest Aquarium in San Francisco (one of the two ADA distributors in the USA) was selling this plant by the pinch (about a 2.5 cm portion size) about 3 or 4 years ago. They had some of this growing in one of their show tanks. A few of the San Francisco Bay Area Aquatic Plant Society members bought some from AFA and grew it out, and I was lucky enough to aquire some a year of so later.

That's when I became obsessed with it.

According to a senior member at the SFBAAPS, people used to refer to this as just "Japanese Hair Grass." Then somewhere along the way, the name "belem" started to be used.

It's a freakin mystery...
 
#27 ·
Beautiful lawn! It looks exactly like the stuff that's sold as "Eleocharis parvula" in Europe (e.g. Tropica), max. height also about ca. 2-3" in dense older stand.

@Vadim: So Your Eleocharis "Belem" remains only 2 cm / ca. 1 inch also in "phase II", when got dense, in contrast to Matt F.'s "Belem"?
 
#28 ·
When I got my initial portions of "E. Belem" from the members at SFBAAPS, they leaves were very short, very curly, and compact. No more than 1" in height (2.5cm). I guess with a high CO2/EI enviroment, the plant changes a bit to what you see in my pictures. Maybe it has to do with light level, too. IDK.

Both forms of this plant were grown on amazonia aquasoil.

The plant came from one source, which stayed <2.5cm. I saw the tank they harvested from.

I think this plant can look different in different tanks, but generally does not grow more than about 7.5cm (2.5") tall in high CO2, medium light, and EI.

Another reason for the height increase in (what I call) phase 2 is the plant starts growing ontop of itself. It gets really thick.
 
#30 · (Edited)
Hello Matt,
When I got my initial portions of "E. Belem" from the members at SFBAAPS, they leaves were very short, very curly, and compact. No more than 1" in height (2.5cm). I guess with a high CO2/EI enviroment, the plant changes a bit to what you see in my pictures. Maybe it has to do with light level, too. IDK.
Assumed that:
Vadim S said:
height of the Belem about 2 cm
, it's possible that Your "Belem" is different from Vadim's "Belem", but identical to Tropica's "E. parvula".
But because the height of the hairgrasses is so dependent on conditions, age and crowd, as You've shown, I believe it's doubtful that there are really constant differences between these rather short curled hairgrasses as long as they are not compared under equal conditions for a longer time. Also regarding Tropica's Eleocharis sp. 'Mini' (again a new trade name for a hairgrass...:rolleyes: )
 
#29 ·
Eleocharis sp. 'mini' has even lower growth than the common Eleocharis parvula and was given to Tropica by Thomas Barr from US. Plant the mini-version in small portions covering a larger area. In short time, a dense carpet will be obtained. Needs light to perform optimal, however, it is one of the most secure species for craeting a carpet - and a minimum of maintenance since leaves stays small (3-5 cm). Suitable for nano-aquariums.

The cosmopolitan Eleocharis parvula has short leaves and fast growth making it one of the most impressive carpet-forming foreground plants, 3-10 cm tall depending on light conditions. It spreads rapidly by runners. It is a relatively easy and undemanding plant that does best with good light and a nutritious substrate. Can be planted in small portions in the substrate and can form a dense carpet in a matter of weeks given the right lighting and conditions. When the leaves get too long they can be pruned with scissors to about 2cm height, encouraging new growth.
http://www.tropica.com/en/plants/plant-list-a-z.aspx
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top