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Echinodorus major flowers

4K views 9 replies 6 participants last post by  Angel079 
#1 ·
This isn't special, but I thought some might be interested in seeing the flowers of Echinodorus major in my flooded Amazon aquarium. My camera skills are not great (actually, my camera is too cheap) but I got a couple decent photos today after the water change. The crinkly leaves beneath the flowers is of course Brazilian Pennywort which is floating over the entire surface. On the right side in the second photo you can see one of the leaves of this E. major, and the tufts of brush algae on this leaf prove that I do have algae in my tanks.;-)

Most swords will regularly produce inflorescences (=flower stalks) in the aquarium but very rarely do these produce flowers unless the plant is grown emersed for at least half the year comparable to their natural habitat; usually when grown fully submersed the plants develop adventitious plantlets along the inflorescence. My E. bleherae have been doing this like mad this past year, and a couple of E. parviflorus have sent up an inflorescence with plantlets.

This is the first E. major that has produced an inflorescence in my aquaria, and I was rather surprised to see many flowers. It has been flowering now for about 2 weeks. The inflorescence is very thick and sturdy, and the flowers have been appearing along the last 6 or so inches which is being held slightly above the water surface by the strength of the plant itself.
 

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#6 ·
It may be a cheap camera but those are still great pics. Your skills as a photographer are improving on a weekly basis! :) Will these flowers actually set seeds?
Yes, if they are fertilized (as redchigh alluded to). However, the process is cumbersome and not always successful. Being marsh plants, Echinodorus seeds need to be sown in a nutritious moist soil under good light and high humidity. A sort of greenhouse atmosphere. Remember, these plants all flower when emersed in nature. Most authorities say the effort is not worth the end result, which is why even aquatic nurseries only use sexual reproduction for plants (such as Aponogeton) that will not reproduce vegetatively. Vegetative propogation of swords and crypts is easier.

I see you have a new avatar, one your your "family." Lovely.:-D
 
#4 ·
Very cool! Pretty little flowers too. It may sound snarky, and it isn't meant that way, but I am glad to see you at least have a tiny bit of algae in your tank too. I had you pretty far up on that pedestal, you still are but maybe at least one rung from the top. ha ha Perfect would be a difficult position to maintain, wouldn't it?
 
#9 ·
Hmm, no seeds...

I'm currently trying to propogate aponogetons... I got some plantlets last year... They might have grown a half inch since then.
Most aponogeton are imported from the wild collecting sites simply because reproduction is so difficult and that means costly for nurseries. I gather there are male and female plants in some species making it even more difficult. And, seed production is rare according to Kasselmann, so if you managed to get seeds you're well ahead of many others.
 
#10 ·
Very nice shots Byron and glad you shared, thank you :)
 
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