single most awesome specimen

[TomFromStLouis]

Without sounding too much like a 17 year old, what do you, like, consider the single most awesomest plant?

:)

I just installed an aponogeton ulvaceous and I cannot take my eyes off of it. What a beautiful centerpice it makes! My other nominee would be the madagascar lace plant, if I felt I could actually grow it. I own and like the crinum calistratum too. I have seen big and leafy amazon swords, and while they are nice, they lack the otherworldliness I look for in this kind of water plant. Any other super-plants I should be considering?

[Slappy*McFish]

I would have to agree with you there...your favorites are mine...but if I can add another plant to that list it would be the Red Tiger Lotus.

[GulfCstAquarian]

Very few plants look good alone, to me. They look their best when planted in contrast against plants that compliment them. A Red Lotus looks truly stunning when planted against a lush light green field of Giant Hygro.

That said, some of my favorite plants are Hottonia palustris and Lindernia rotundafolia. The Hottonia has the most delicate, fine leaves, while the Lindernia has light green stripes on it's small round leaves. Here are pictures of both...

http://home.earthlink.net/~ponjican/aquaria/images/Lindernia_rotundafoliat.jpg (http://home.earthlink.net/~ponjican/aquaria/images/Lindernia_rotundafolia.jpg) Lindernia rotundafolia

http://home.earthlink.net/~ponjican/aquaria/images/Hottonia_palustrist.jpg (http://home.earthlink.net/~ponjican/aquaria/images/Hottonia_palustris.JPG) Hottonia palustris

[Starry]

A. ulvaceus is one of my favourites as well. I would also add Eusteralis stellata, Cryptocoryne balansae (not really stunning, but I really like it) and Ludwigia repens (common, I know, but it can be really beautiful when the light is strong). Also Limnophila sessiliflora, but only when it's growing dense and bushy with the feathery growth. Mine tens to alternate, and sometimes it grows thin and leggy, then I feel like throwing it all out, it's so ugly!

[plantbrain]

This is easy:

Cryptocoryne cordata variety "Pink Viened"

Uncommon Crypts, all Ottelias and all Lagenandras.

Uncommon, tough to grow out fast, reproduce, flower, slow growing worth their weight in gold for trades.

These are the connoisseur's plants.

Stem plants and other faster growers will make their rounds. The above will always be rare and in demand.

Regards,
Tom Barr

[Slappy*McFish]

Where would you find plants like these and have you/ do you own any of those mentioned species, Tom? What kind of price do they command? I've been thinking of replacing all of my Echinodorus plants with species of crypts...and these particular ones intrigue me.

[plantbrain]

Well Gasser use to sell all these right here in Florida.
Most of these are sold through folks that collect these rather than vendors.

Vendors cannot grow many of these well commercially.

Sorry my keyboard is 0n the fritz.

Regards,

Tom Barr

[aquatic-store]

My fav is E stellata. Awesome plant, many people cant grow it but it is a beauty

marc Russo
http://www.Aquatic-store.com

[plantbrain]

Most local vendors carry Crypt cordata variety blassii(n=102). 2-3$ each, very pretty plant.

Some rarely have one other variety but no one I'm aware of have the german pink vein variety in the USA. Gasser did at one point and I recall seeing it for sale, about 22$ back in the 80's. Lag's were popular then and were around 12-20$ ea.

There's a number of varieties in a number of crypts groups.

Vendors just don't carry the rarer species and growers cannot break from their moulds of production.

Crypts are excellent replacements for Swords which get too big for many tanks that grow well.

I also like the lace plant. The ulvaceus, capuroni, longipulminosus, biovianus are all nice, I think of this group the capuroni with it's leaf shape is very nice and is a tad smaller than some of these.

Eichhornia azurea is a dramatic plant also.

Here's the link to the Lag page's:

http://home.wanadoo.nl/lagenandra/index.htm

And they are still finding new species before they cut all the rainforest down.
Too bad few folks keep many of these plants.

http://users.bart.nl/~crypts/index.html

Regards,
Tom Barr

[cpr4cpu]

dang, and I'm still captivated by the aponogetons like madagascar lace and ulvaceus and boivaniunus (spelling?)

I guess, simple plants for simple plant keepers :-)

[plantbrain]

The lace plant was/is one of the most coveted plants. I have 4. But they are easy plants and can get large and unruly if you have decent conditions/cool temps.
Raising your own from a parent plant from seed is a goal that every aquatic plant keeper should attempt at least once if they plan on keeping plants for the long term.

The thing that really sets some plants apart are the difficultly in keeping them over the long term. Healthy crypts are not planted a month ago. A nice Crypt tank that's well balance as an aquascape can take year/s.

There are over 60+ species in the group.
Many are not suitable for aquarium but make nice emergent plants.
See the Crypt's pages for C lingua. I have a pic on there of some of my own.
Regards,
Tom Barr

[TomFromStLouis]

As always, the Brain has some left us with material to chew on. I find it interesting and revealing (but I suppose not surprising) that he would interpret the question differently than us commoners. It seems he has chosen rare and difficult as criteria for awesomeness whereas I simply looked for beauty. And of course, rare IS beautiful to the true connosieur

Funny how knowledge changes one's taste. It certainly happens in the art world, why not aquatic plants or fish? Maybe this explains the appeal of some of those rare tank buster fish too...

[nvision]

i'm a simple guy. i LOVE Alternanthera reineckii (red).

http://www.aquabotanic.com/images/alternanthera.JPG

[plantbrain]

I often use cars as a comparison to things plant.

Would you be more awe struck if you had a new Corvette or would you be more in awe if you had a vintage 1967 w/427cc V-8, your favorite color, convertible etc?

Or would you be more in awe of a rare Italian sports car?

If lots of folks have them, they simply don't get the excitement and oooo's and aaahhh's of an awesome plant. But to the newbie any healthy looking pearling group is of great interest. This is why you keep plants.

But you are plant folks so, like car folks when they see a nifty car, you'll get excited over a new/rare/uncommon plants.

For me personally, seeing a tank done with rare plants excites me more than a well aquascaped tank with simple easy common plants. Even if the tank is lacking on design. The art and the plant element are somewhat separate for me. Art excites me in a different area than a species.

Crypts are like "classic or rare" cars.

Regards,
Tom Barr

[djlen]

Not too long ago I wrote a thread about a completely balanced 50 or 60 gal. tank that an old fish breeder here in Jersey kept. It had no filtration(other, I'm sure than his water changes), a beautiful pair of breeding discus and 5 or 6 different varieties of Crypts. The background was entirely balansae. Then another slightly shorter variety, and the foreground was wendti and cordata. This, BTW, was back in the '60's before many people were even thinking about breeding discus. It was, without a doubt, the most beautiful tank I've ever seen in person.
Some day I'd like to have a tank that nice...........
Len

[plantbrain]

Here's a link with many pictures including the Crypt I want. Also, some new stem plants. Neat pleco's Ect.

http://www.rva.ne.jp/e_mainpage.html
Regards,

Tom Barr

[TomFromStLouis]

Originally posted by djlen
Not too long ago I wrote a thread about a completely balanced 50 or 60 gal. tank that an old fish breeder here in Jersey kept. It had no filtration(other, I'm sure than his water changes), a beautiful pair of breeding discus and 5 or 6 different varieties of Crypts. The background was entirely balansae. Then another slightly shorter variety, and the foreground was wendti and cordata. This, BTW, was back in the '60's before many people were even thinking about breeding discus. It was, without a doubt, the most beautiful tank I've ever seen in person.
Some day I'd like to have a tank that nice...........
Len

Go for it Len. Sounds awesome. What's stopping you?:)

There is no doubt that forums like this one, the community it fosters, and pictures of tanks I see on the internet raises the bar and makes everything seem atainable. It only seems hard when it comes tiime to actually put it together. For me, I seem to have 7 or 8 tank concepts in my head just waiting to be executed....