Re: tenellus

[john wheeler <jcwheel76 at yahoo_com>]

Hey gang,


Rachel wrote:
>>The plant on the left in this photo:
http://groups.msn.com/rsfish/shoebox.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=81
was sold to me as E. Tenellus, but I think it is too
tall to be the 
real 
thing? If it isn't E. ten, then what is it?

Thanks,
Rachel<<


Hello again, Rachel. 

The plant that you have pictured there is *NOT* E.
tenellus by any authority except the retail/wholesale
outfits that perpetrate these lies;) In a less
dramatic tone, there is some controversy about what is
actually Echinodorus tenellus. 

We (the list) have been over this before in recent
times. The nomenclature, and taxonomy (is that right
James?) of this genera is terribly incomplete, and we
the hobbyist suffer. IMHO, the plant that you have and
others have is E. latifolius or a variety of that
plant. Anytime I've seen E. latifolius for sale it
looks just like the stuff they pawn off as E.
tenellus.

There are 2 varieties of tenellus that I'm able to
discern from my references, granted they are hobby
based books:

E. tenellus var tenellus, and E tenellus var parvulus.

As far as I can tell, they are basically the same
plant except the latter is the one folks call "micro"
tenellus and is the one in Amano's photos. I have a
pretty large stand of the former, and it is identical
to Amano's except that it grows to about 3-5" and has
leaves that are <1mm wide. They also hold their red
color well....I've never seen the latter in person.

I got some from a fellow APD'er and from Mike T. who
has all but folded Delaware Aquatic Imports, sadly.
Robert H. at Aqua Botanic has the "Micro" tenellus
that it sounded like you wanted. The weed that you
have is *very* invasive and tall and is practically
impossible to use in a controlled aquascape without
constant attention.


Hope this helps,
John Wheeler 

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
HotJobs - Search Thousands of New Jobs
http://www.hotjobs.com