# rotala's id



## wearsbunnyslippers (Feb 18, 2008)

i have two different rotala's in my tank, both of which i thought were rotundilfora, but when i look at the leaf structures they are actually different, i was hoping you could try id them from bad ascii drawings 

rotala #1 has 3 leaves per internode like this:


```
[FONT="Courier New"]
     /
  --o
     \

  \
   o--
  /[/FONT]
```
so when viewed from the top it looks like a star:


```
[FONT="Courier New"]  \ /
 --o--
  / \[/FONT]
```
rotala # 2 has two leaves per internode like this:


```
|
     o
     |

  --o--
```
so when viewed from the top it looks like a cross:


```
|
     --o--
       |
```
they both go red under high light, the 1st one grows more sideways, while the 2nd one grows straight up...

this is the 1st - just left of center:










this is the 2nd - bush in the middle:










what are these two different rotala's?


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## ashappard (Jun 3, 2006)

#2, the one which is opposite and alternating (forming the cross / plus sign when viewed from above) - 
It also looks like the stems are considerably thinner than #1. Is that true?

#1 - Rotala rotundifolia
#2 a Rotala macrandra variant?

just a guess of course, but hopefully push discussion in the right direction.


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## wearsbunnyslippers (Feb 18, 2008)

i know its tacky to link to another forum, BUT, this pic shows it perfectly... you can see the star shaped and the two leafed one...



click on the pic for the original thread, legomaniac89 says this is rotala sp. singapore, but he aslo post a pic of normal colorata and thats what my other one looks like, it goes a nice red, stem and all close to the light...

thanks for the help guys


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## Cavan Allen (Jul 22, 2004)

Most likely, they are all _Rotala rotundifolia _ (it's the emersed _leaves_ that are round).

The first example you gave, with three leaves per node (internodes are the spaces in between) are whorled (aka verticillate).

The second example shows opposite leaves that are deccusate, which as you describe, arranged so that they appear like a cross or plus sign when viewed from above.

_R. rotundifolia_ can vary in terms of how many leaves it grows per node, often because of conditions. There are many geographical variants as well. Both of those factors could easily account for what you see. You may have different variations, or they could end up looking pretty much all alike after a while. But I doubt they're different species.


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