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.
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.