# Rotala Id



## Sjb1987

Ive had this plant for quite a while. Cavan, I think you said it was Rotala Bangladesh, if im not mistaken? Im unsure what type of Rotala this is. It was sold to me as Rotala mexicana 'araguaia'




























I always thought this Rotala 'bangladesh' ----not my pic


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## AaronT

Yes, it looks like 'Bangladesh' to me too.


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## Sjb1987

yea..ive had bangledesh before...grew like 2 inches a day and grew straight up..this one tends to creep when the lighting is more intense

bangladesh also had a red stem..this one doesnt.. it does seem to get a pinkish tint in the crown


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## Cavan Allen

All the pics you show are of _R. mexicana_ 'Bangladesh '. It's probably growing differently now because of conditions. There are numerous local races of that species and some look pretty similar, hence the confusion. Seems the actual 'Araguaia' is quite hard to find.


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## HybridHerp

I'm inclined to say bangladesh as well


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## Sjb1987

thanks!


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## Yo-han

Umzz... First time I disagree with Cavan, so I know I'm likely to be wrong. But I owned R. mexicana 'Araguaia', the R. mexicana 'Bangladesh' from the last picture and the Rotala from the first pictures, which I always thought to be a natural hybrid between R. wallichii en R. rotundifolia (commonly sold over here in Europe as Rotala sp. 'Nanjenshan' ).


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## Cavan Allen

The second time... 

For certain, all those pics are of the same plant. 

The natural hybrid of rotundifolia and wallichii is easy to spot because of squared off leaf tips and a decumbent growth habit.


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## Yo-han

But his only has 4 leaves per whorl and the 'bangladesh' I owned and from the last picture always has way more. And I never really had decumbent growth with my 'nanjenshan' either, maybe it depends on the amount of light...


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## miremonster

I'm puzzled...

@Sjb1987: Could you take a closeup of the leaf tips? Really not squared off, with a notch?
In pic #3 the stems seem to grow partly horizontal, but maybe it's only an effect of trimming. Are they really prone to grow to the side?

@Johan: I also know the "Nanjenshan" having only ca. 4-5 leaves per whorl. But, as Cavan describes, with partly horizontal / decumbent growth, similar to Rotala 'Green'. (and looking a lot like the plant in pic 3...  )

I've had a plant that was named Rotala cf. occultiflora and wallichii "Long Leaf" (erroneously, apparently a different plant was commercialized as wallichii "Long Leaf" in the Netherlands first) on Flowgrow: http://www.flowgrow.de/neue-und-besondere-wasserpflanzen/rotala-cf-occultiflora-t22763.html
Leaves and whorls pretty much like "Nanjenshan", notched leaf tip, but coloration of the whole plant somewhat darker / more brownish under the same conditions, and growing really upright. Maybe your "Nanjenshan" version, Johan?
(I don't want to evoke the unfortunate "nanjenshan (2) Colorata" discussion... too vague)


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## Cavan Allen

The number of leaves per whorl is variable, in my experience. I have no doubt whatsoever that none of the plants in the photos are the 'Nanjenshan' and that they are _R. mexicana _ from Bangladesh.


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## Dr_Hoatzin

I had Rotala mexicana 'Araguaia' and it looked quite different and only crept across the substrate. No upright growth at all.


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## Yo-han

Dr_Hoatzin said:


> I had Rotala mexicana 'Araguaia' and it looked quite different and only crept across the substrate. No upright growth at all.


Araguaia doesn't creep. That must have been Rotala mexicana 'Goias'


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## Sjb1987

This plant will creep when it gets closer to the light..heres a couple more pics... closest i could get but you can zoom in closer on your pcs


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## Adam C

Sean, I definitely think its R. 'Bangladesh.'

Since I have both species growing submerged and emersed, I figured I'd add some pics.

The first in R. 'Nanjenshan', clearly showing the squared ends. Under these conditions it doesn't creep.

The second pic is R. mexicana 'Bangladesh' and it definitely grows straight up then produces side shoots along the surface.

I'll take some pics of the emersed forms tomorrow when the sun is out.

~ Adam


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## Sjb1987

I agree now. ...just posting more pics for others... 

My stem has never turned that red on my bangladesh and I have tons of light over this tank...it has always been yellow/green... is the stem red when emmersed grown?


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## Adam C

I'm curious too because of all the trade names and sources. Its a pita to back-track to what it is.

I haven't had that red develop in other tanks despite a similar (but different spectrum of light). Micros are dosed a little heavier in this tank, but that may not be relevant. 

I like the bangladesh variant, but I'm not sure how to make it grow more compact as in your picture.


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## pandragon

Those are beautiful plants! Too bad they won't grow in harder water, at least I don't htink they will. I have trouble growing wisteria without iron in mts substrate without co2 to lower ph. 

Those are really cool looking plants though.

So, what is the diff between bangladesh and the other variants mentioned above that make this species a bangledesh variant rather than another?


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## AaronT

Adam C said:


> I like the bangladesh variant, but I'm not sure how to make it grow more compact as in your picture.


Are you constantly replanting tops or hacking it down like mowing a lawn? A lot of stems grow bigger when you replant them from a top cutting and they grow smaller in diameter and bushier if they are hacked down and simply allowed to regenerate. Ludwigia inclinata var. verticillata 'Cuba' is an excellent example of this.


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## AaronT

pandragon said:


> Those are beautiful plants! Too bad they won't grow in harder water, at least I don't htink they will. I have trouble growing wisteria without iron in mts substrate without co2 to lower ph.
> 
> Those are really cool looking plants though.
> 
> So, what is the diff between bangladesh and the other variants mentioned above that make this species a bangledesh variant rather than another?


No, Rotalas in general don't do well in hard water. KH 4-5 is the highest I would go for Rotalas.

Embrace your hard water though. There are lots of hard water loving plants too.


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## pandragon

At this moment I am wondering if iI should stick with java fern and anubias and nix everything else unless I can find more hard water loving plants.  And I was hoping one strain of the beautiful rotala would grow in hard water, oh well. Thanks anyways. They are very beautiful, whatever specific variant they are.


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## AaronT

pandragon said:


> At this moment I am wondering if iI should stick with java fern and anubias and nix everything else unless I can find more hard water loving plants.  And I was hoping one strain of the beautiful rotala would grow in hard water, oh well. Thanks anyways. They are very beautiful, whatever specific variant they are.


There are lots of cool Crypts that like hard water. Bucephalandras would grow well too.


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## mdcham

I have the same exact plant as the OP, also with green stem, grown in high tech tank with 120 PAR light and EI fert dosing.

I got my plants from a tissue culture gel pack at Petco. The package called it Rotala wallichi which is clearly incorrect. Its the same tissue culture company that sells golden jenny and crypt wenditii green tissue cultures.

Mine is growing very well in hard water 12 dH. I also have almost 1.0 ppm iron and lean nitrates


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