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Riccia
Tom Barr wrote:
>I have seen this in Baensch's book 3 but I have the same batch of Riccia for
>over 7 years.
>It was like the brighter green type for about 5 years. No other batch from
>the outside were ever added in any way. It appeared after adding it to high
>lighting tanks. Both thrive in my tanks as many who have seen it can attest.
>There is little, if any, favoritism in my tanks of one type over the other.
>At lower lighting levels it can be dealt with (the rhenana as it's called)
>and removed while the the other type does well floating. It is possible for
>some contamination from other plants being added over time but it would have
>to be......as you say ......."a few cells" only.
But as I said, only a few cells are needed, particularly if, as you say,
conditions are ideal for both types.
>Do you or anyone have that reference for Riccia and it's group or more info
>in regards to it's species of this Genera and classifications structures
>etc.?
There is useful reading in the following books:
The Complete Guide to Water Plants by Helmut Muhlberg
Biology of Plants by Raven and Curtis
The Complete Book of Aquarium Plants by Robert Allgayer and Jacques Teton
A Manual of Aquatic Plants by Norman C. Fassett
These were all I could dig out on short notice.
>How certain is the Baensch Book 3 on this species?
Who knows?<g> They are more reliable than most atlases, but we know there
are mistakes in the books.
The other thing to keep in mind is that there are close to 200 known
species of Riccia, though it is sold generically in the hobby. Who knows
if we are all even discussing the same plant? I _know_ that there is
Riccia that can be found in clear water streams here in N.E. that _looks_
like our "regular" R. fluitans, but does not float. Instead, it is found
"clinging" (I use that term loosely, because like you, I think it is
actually caught up in something, not clinging on its own) to the bottom in
clumps in shallow water, looking _just_ like Amano's "Riccia stones". Is
it R. fluitans? I don't know. Either it is a very different looking
variety, or it is a different species.
The trouble with plants like this is that there are a lot of them, and if
they are not either of economic value, or a pest species, there is little
incentive for someone to fund a major study of them. It's just us
hobbyists with inquiring minds who want to know ;-)
Karen