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North American aquatic plants (was Plant ID)



I'm interested in native (North American) aquatic plants.
If you are able,  it would be neat to post pictures of those
plants on a website.

The cabomba-like plant .... Is it rooted? If it isn't, then
it's most likely hornwort. If it is rooted, it could be several
other things. One candidate -- and I'm just guessing
here  -- is a Myriophyllum species.

If it's Myriophyllum aquaticum (parrot feather), that's
an introduced species.
http://aquat1.ifas.ufl.edu/myaqpic.html

Or it could be another invasive, Myriophyllum spicatum
(Eurasian water milfoil).
http://aquat1.ifas.ufl.edu/myrspi.html

There is a native species of Myriophyllum called
Myriophyllum humile. I once collected it at a coastal
freshwater pond in Delaware. Very nice plant tho' a bit
hard to maintain -- I didn't have enough lighting, also
had an unsuitable nutrient load, I think. Now that I'm
more experienced (?) I may try to cultivate it again --
if I can ever find it! (it's not in that pond anymore).
http://www.dnr.state.md.us/bay/sav/key/m_humile.html

There are probably other natives that fit that description.
I'll check my plant book.

> The next grows along the shore line of my pond and looks just like
grass.<

Does it have the texture of grass, or is it stiffer? I think
you're right about it being a naiad species. I've seen an
illustration of it. I'll check my native aquatic plants book
at home and let you know.

BTW,
There's a thread on native plants at
http://www.thekrib.com/Plants/Plants/native-usa.html

You also said: > Since I'm just starting out with plants
I figured I'd collect two local species from my pond and
try to grow those before I shell out a ton of cash on LFS plants.<

I've tried growing some other wild-collected aquatic plants
and it wasn't easy. I guess the plants had a tough time adapting
from full sunlight to my less-than-optimal aquarium conditions.
If you really want to get some plants going in your tank,
just for the sake of having plants, get some cheap fast-growing
plants at your LFS, like hygro, ambulia, etc. It doesn't cost
much, grows like a weed, and are great starter plants.

cheers,
    shireen


--
Shireen Gonzaga
Baltimore
whimbrel at comcast_net