# Rotala? Mayaca? Other?



## BSS (May 2, 2006)

Hey all - the lfs is now stocking plants. As I was looking for something fine leaved and reddish, and as I'd like to support their plant efforts, I picked up this plant a couple days ago. I thought I recognized it, but looking through my Kassellmann book, I'm not so sure I find a good match. The structure looks similar to Mayaca fluviatalis (sp?) I had in the past, but that plant never had any reddish tips (perhaps different growing conditions). It could be Rotala species, but most seem to have longer leaf growth.

So, what say ye' experts?
Brian.

P.S. Recent migrant from TheWetThumb. The PlantID discussion threads seem pretty 'bare' (forgive the pun!). Are the plant id threads pruned regularly due to limited value? Or do most folks just not post here? Or am I posting this on the wrong place? Thanks for the insights.


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## dennis (Mar 1, 2004)

Yes, Mayaca fluviatalis. Rotala sp. najenshen looks similar but the leaves are slightly farther apart and are a little "coarser". Also, I highly doubt any LFS would have Rotala najenshen

The red coloration at the tips is a sign of high light and good trace nutrients.


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## chiahead (Dec 18, 2004)

Looks like Rotala Walichii or rotala Vietnam to me. I think they look close to each other with walichii being more orangy pink and smaller than the vietnam.


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## Cavan Allen (Jul 22, 2004)

That's _Rotala wallichii_ (no caps on the species name).

I'm not sure why some people only see a few of the ID threads. There are actually quite a lot of them. I think it has to do with prefences and how many threads you show per page. I'll find out.


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## banderbe (Nov 17, 2005)

Looks exactly like my Mayaca fluviatilis. Besides, I seriously doubt your LFS, which just got into aquatic plants, is selling R. wallichii, whereas most LFS sell Mayaca. Mine does.


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## Cavan Allen (Jul 22, 2004)

That is absolutely not _Mayaca_. The leaf shape is different (not as pointy) and _Mayaca_ never gets more than a very pale reddish tinge. Also, you can see that the plant pictured has leaves in whorls, which _Mayaca_ does not have. _R. wallichii_ is grown by FAN and is in a lot of pet stores.


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## chiahead (Dec 18, 2004)

I agree with Cavan Allen-he knows he stuff, plus I have grown all the plants in question and like I said earlier its walichii or vietnam. Definetely not any mayaca. Not even very close!


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## BSS (May 2, 2006)

Great input, all! I'm glad to see there was cause for my confusion [smilie=l: .

The wallichii sounds great to me. Assuming I have high enough light to get it to grow (3+ WPG), the more intense coloration should work out better for me than the Mayaca.

As to not seeing all the threads, I'll follow a lead from Cavan and see if I can help diagnose this one.


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