duckweed

rhymon78

Not that I would question anything you say Byron..obviously! but are you sure they are the same plant?

There is two definite different leaf structures and growth structure going there.

there is what i believe to be salvinia which has concave leaves in a V shape, they are a darker green than the others and grow in a long line, with new growth emerging from the end of the row.

the other one the leaves are much lighter green and are convex in shape. their grow in a star shape and new growth appears like an off shoot to the main plant. to me they seem like two different plants. if you look closely at pics 2 and 3 you can see the different shaped leaves.

I may be wrong, would be nice to know though. but whatever they are, they are sweet plants!!

Byron

The first three photos, taken from above the tank, are the same plant species, Salvinia. I've no doubt at all on this. Are you thinking there are different plants within a single photo?

The photos from below are a bit harder to tell, but the leaves look the same so I'll assume you are not tricking us.

Can you maybe separate one of the star-shaped plants and photograph it from above? And do you have a name that it is supposed to be if not Salvinia?

Geomancer

The leaves with little bumbs on them look like Salvinia. The other leaves look like the Dwarf Water Lettuce I have in my tank.

I do see two different types of leaves though in the photo, easier to see in the third for me. The bottom left of the third photo is what I think is Dwarf Water Lettuce while the rest loos to be Salvinia. But my eyes may just be playing tricks on me.

rhymon78

Yes, thats what i think. I definitely have two types in there. Like I said, I purchased a couple bags to begin with, I asked what it was at the store and the guy told me Salvinia but... I think it was actually water lettuce, or dwarf even. the reason being I found some dwarf water lettuce on ebay, purchased some and when it arrived it looked exactly the same as what I had got from the store.

I then got the dark green leaved plants with the little bumps on and the definite v shape. directly out of one of the tanks in the store, the roots were large and fuzzy already, and this plant is what I believe to Salvinia. To my eyes I can definitely see a difference in shape... in truth it doesn't really matter, but I was just wondering if what I originally bought was actually water lettuce, which I am sure it is now....

Byron, maybe your eyesight isn't what it used to be?? probably from all the time you spend replying to threads on here..



Thanks always.

Byron

Can you separate out and photograph one of the water lettice plants?

rhymon78

Yes I will do, gotta do my water change tonight so I'll do it then.

rhymon78

here you go Byron.

Pic 1 is what I believe to be Salvinia notice the growth along a main stem and the leaves come off laterally and at the end new growth is emerging.

Pic 2 is what I believe is the water lettuce. the growth is definitely different with a more star shaped body and the new growth is just one off shoot the then turns into its own plant.

Attached Images

	IMG_0917.jpg (28.3 KB, 32 views)
	IMG_0918.jpg (27.6 KB, 32 views)

Byron

That is different, though I would not have seen it unless i was looking for it. Not difficult to see how the store got them mixed. The dwarf lettuce actually appears much closer to Frogbit (Limnobium sp.) than it does to Pistia stratiotes.

Now I wonder if anyone knows the scientific name? There doesn't appear to be one.

The true water lettuce is Pistia stratiotes, and this is the only species in the genus. It was described and named by Linne in 1753. Linne is the more common botanical form of Carl Linnaeus, the Swedish biologist who first classified all then-known species of plant and animal and in doing so invented the scientific nomenclature system we still use today to classify all species of life on earth.

Kasselmann says Engler described 4 varieties but these have no taxonomic value; she has no reference to the dwarf form. The Plant List, a listing of all known botanical species and "the" authority on the subject lists 26 synonym names but none are distinct species.

There are photos of this plant on some of my plant forums but they simply call it dwarf lettuce or dwarf water lettuce. It would be interesting to know what it is, and how it came to be.

rhymon78

Do you just sit with a pile of literature surrounding you....? fountain of knowledge!

I am just grateful I found some true floating plants, rather than having to float some stem plants...

Byron

I love research, and I usually know where to turn for information. I have my sources, in other words.

Now that I've seen this, I would be interested in getting some. I've never seen it locally, nor paid attention to it previously. I used to have the true species in my garden pond, until the racoon ate it all--along with the goldfish and their fry. Anyone in Canada willing to ship me some???

Byron.