Mystery Plant Recidivist Strikes Again
 

Despite my determination to only buy plants that I have identified and researched in advance, I continue to be lured in by unlabeled plants based primarily on aesthetics. Most recently, I coveted a floating plant with no identification. The store clerk told me that his vendor calls it "Indica." I really liked the look, so I bought a handful. I did a little homework and found several plant genera with a species indica including one that is illegal to grow.

The most common in the aquarium hobby seems to be Rotala indica. I'm assuming that's what I got, but the variety of images for this plant are astounding. If someone would please confirm or correct my assumption based upon the attached photos, I would be grateful!

1) Floating mass (~10 stems), from above
http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/m...bove-21729.jpg

2) One stem planted, for comparison
http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/m...nted-21730.jpg

3) Planted, closeup
http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/m...seup-21731.jpg

4) Floating mass, from eye-level
http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/m...ting-21732.jpg

Well I can say this much it doesn't look like the rotola indica I had. The leaves are different but I don't know if it can grow emerged or not but if so maybe that's what the leaves look like with emerged growth? Hope someone can give you the answer you are looking For.

its not pot, if that makes you feel better LOL

im thinking it actually might be rotala. if you look at pictures of rotala indica, the old growth on the bottom of the plants in the pictures looks like what you have. otoh, ive never raised it personally, so ill probably get trumped here any minute!

I can't say how it was originally grown, but it had been floating in its tank at the LFS for awhile according to the clerk. As a general rule, would floating plants display their emersed forms?

Actually, it makes me feel worse. For a moment there, I was entertaining delusions of earning back some of the money I've been spending. [Disclaimer: The previous statement was intended as a joke and was in no way meant to reflect my actual intentions.]

So it seems that you understand my frustration here. I've been poring over countless pics of Rotala indica (and other non-hallucinogenic indica species) and haven't found anything that so closely represents what I have that I feel confident drawing a taxonomic conclusion. As you indicate, I've seen some that bare a resemblance, but many that look very different from my plant (at least to my untrained eye).

I'll be the first to condemn my actions. It serves me right for continuing to purchase unknown plant species and I deserve the frustration that comes with the uncertainty I brought upon myself. But in my defense, isn't it a damn fine looking plant? My hope is to figure out for certain what it is so that I can keep it that way!

Thanks to both of you for taking the time to share your opinions.

it is indeed a fine looking specimen. I would put it under some good light and let her go for a few weeks. Let the plant get comfortable. My money is still on rotala indica.

And dont feel bad, we all wish we could find a way to pay for this absurd expenditure.

Depends on the plant. For insteads I notice my pennywort has different leaves and it is from the same plant. One section I have planted and it has smaller leaves and the other is floating which has bigger leaves. Now when I bought the plant it had all emerged leaves (bigger leaves). If that makes sense.

Ps. You know to tell ya the truth I don't really know maybe all floating plants are this way?

Plants with leaves on the surface or above the water tend to have broad leaves to better capture light. Plants in the water tend to have narrower leaves to conserve energy.

That certainly makes sense in the evolutionary scheme of things. The relatively large leaf size when compared to the long list of Google images for Rotala indica is one of the reasons I've been hesitant to accept the label. It stands to reason that a significant amount of time spent at the surface would impact the appearance.

Yes I understand this. As leaves/plants at the surface can get Co2 much easier and the light that is needed so they grow faster and have the leaves that are bigger but are these also the same form of leaves that would be on a plant that is grown emerged?