Limnophilia aquatica

• To: Aquatic-Plants at actwin_com
• Subject: Limnophilia aquatica
• From: krombhol at felix_TECLink.Net (Paul Krombholz)
• Date: Mon, 4 Sep 1995 18:43:53 -0500

I have wanted to get Limnophilia aquatica for a long time, and I finally
did about two months ago, from a New York City store.  It survived the 5%
bleach treatment fairly well, and, in a 15 gallon tank with 3 20 watt T12
fluorescents, it has grown rapidly and almost filled the aquarium.  I
didn't see that beautiful, dense, bushy look pictured in the books until
the plants got near the surface of the water. Lower down, the internodes
are longer and the leaves are shorter.  As soon as the plants got bushy,
they began to spread by means of runners which were modified stems that
came from internodes near the soil surface and ran horizontally over the
soil.  The internodes are one to two inches apart on these runners, and the
leaves are much reduced.  At every other internode, a new plant grows up
towards the surface.  Where the new plant grows up, there is often a new
runner that branches from the main one. With this network of branching
runners, Limonphilia aquatica is a highly invasive plant that can rapidly
cover a large area.  Hydrilla verticillata spreads in exactly the same
fashion.

Paul Krombholz

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