# Mystery Bacopa-like plant ID. Please help!



## leleupi (Sep 4, 2005)

Hello All! 

A few months ago I bought a plant from Petco which I thought was Bacopa monnieri. However, having kept Bacopa monnieri before I noticed right away that the leaves of this plant were way too long and differently shaped than the small leaves of B. monnieri. It does look like some kind of Bacopa, though, and it grows exactly like Bacopa monnieri. The leaves are pretty thick and sturdy and "fleshy", similar to the various Bacopas (although the leaves of this mystery plant seem to a tiny little bit thinner). Now the biggest leaves are almost 2 inches long, although they are smaller when bought from Petco.

I have included pictures below in case someone can help me identify this plant. I have been searching all over the internet for pictures of a similar plant, but could not find anything. I have been growing this plant emersed for about 2-3 months now (I've been using MiracleGro for the last month and the plant really took off) and the pictures below are of the emersed growth. However, the submersed growth looks pretty much the same. The leaves anbd stem are actually bigger emersed, but I attribute that to the MiracleGro. It is always available at Petco, so I doubt it's some rare plant. Could it be some kind of artificially crated/bred variety of Bacopa monnieri? Any ideas? Your help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!


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## Cavan Allen (Jul 22, 2004)

I'd be willing to bet that it is _B. monnieri_. Its leaves can have toothed margins. Have you been able to flower it at all?


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## stepheus (Jun 13, 2006)

It looks like the emmerse version of Limnophila Aromatica. They are usually sold in this form in Malaysia. Maybe you can get a better identification if you grow them submersed or get it to flower =) 

Btw if its Limnophila Aromatica, growing it submerse from its emmerse state is a quite a challenge. Make sure you have strong light and rich substrate. Good luck


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## leleupi (Sep 4, 2005)

Stepheus, I don't think it's L. aromatica. I've looked at quite a few pictures of that plant and although it has similar jagged leaves, the leaves are quite different in shape and the whole plant seems to have fine "hairs" all over it when grown emersed. My plant does not have any hairs and also grows pretty much in the same shape both emersed and submersed. L. aromatica is *very* different when grown submersed. 

Cavan, can you point me to any pictures of B. monnieri that has those toothed edges on its leaves? Every B. monnieri I have owned and seen (in nature and in tanks) has the smooth leave edges and much smaller leaves...smaller than the 2 inch leaves that my plants have anyway. Plus, B. monnieri leaves tend to get leathery and stay smaller when grown emersed. I have observed quite the opposite with my plant. The leaves stayed about the same but are much bigger, as I said, probably thanks to the MiracleGro but still...I doubt that the B. monnieri plants I've seen before could have 2 inch leaves (especially not emersed). 

By the way...Petco could not provide me with a name for this plant either. They just sold it under "bunched stem plants" or something similar. None of their plants are individually labeled and the workers have no clue either. 

Of course I will provide pictures of this plant when it finally flowers, but it has only recently established itself. It should flower soon considering it's growing several inches a week as we speak. You can almost literally see it grow during the course of a day. 

Could it be another species of Bacopa? This plant has been sold at Petco for years and years, so there have got to be some people around who have this plant and identified it.


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## leleupi (Sep 4, 2005)

Alright...here are some pictures of Bacopa monnieri with somewhat jagged leaf edges and angular leaves:



















Source: Bacopa monnieri -- Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants

Notice, in the second picture, how small the leaves are next to the hand. Nowhere near the two inches that my plant's leaves get to be.

Here is another picture of a bacopa monnieri with a hand and fingers for comparison:

http://albums.photo.epson.com/j/View?u=4001548&a=30445124&p=63497555&Sequence=0&res=high

Here is a closeup of a B. monnieri that shows how thick and fleshy the leaves can get when grown emersed:










Here another closeup of the flower and leaves:










And here the whole growth:










Sourse for the three pics above: Hawaiian Native Plants, UH Botany

Finally, here another picture of my mystery plant with my hand right next to it holding it:










You can see that it looks nothing like the Bacopa monnieri in the above pictures. The mystery plant's leaves are still fleshy, but not as thick and fleshy as the B. monnieri leaves. And the leaves are much longer of course.

Hope this helps with the identification. In case nobody has an answer here, where would be the best place to send these pictures for identification? Is there any scientific institution (i.e. botanists) that you know of that could help me out?


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## Cavan Allen (Jul 22, 2004)

Do you have any of the Baensch atlases? In book 2 or 3 there is featured a type of _B. monnieri_ with toothed leaf margins. Keep in mind too that some plants can be quite variable emersed (_H. polysperma_ 'Ceylon' being one). I don't see why your plant can't be _B. monnieri_. I saw some of the stuff at a Petco a few days ago and was satisfied that that's what it was.

Either flower it or grow some out submersed and then show some more pictures.
It should be obvious by then.


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## leleupi (Sep 4, 2005)

I don't have the Baensch Atlas, but I can try to see if I can find one. As for the plant ID...I did not say "it can't be B. monnieri." I'm just saying, given the picture evidence shown above it's highly unlikely.

I did manage to find two pictures of the exact same plant that I have (although in much worse shape than mine) on the internet grown submersed:



















As you can see, the plant grows the exact same way (same leaves, same stem, same shape more or less) submersed as it does emersed. The only difference being that it is likely to grow more upright in most normal-light tanks. That was exactly how it was growing when it was submersed in my tanks.

In other words, I have seen/grown this plant both submersed and emersed and I have seen/grown "normal" Bacopa monnieri submersed and emersed and there are huge differences in my opinion. Bacopa monnieri changes considerably when grown emersed. Notably, its leaves get *smaller* and fleshier whereas the leaves of this plant stay either the same or even get bigger (but not fleshier than they already are). I've mentioned these things above a few times already, that's why I'm a bit perplexed why you still insist that it is likely to be B. monnieri.

Any thoughts on this after seeing the submersed growth? The only thing missing now is a picture of the "mystery plant" flowering.


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## hooha (Apr 21, 2005)

I do agree it doesn't look like the typical B. monnieri submersed.

I also agree that the best thing to do is to flower it


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## zQ. (Dec 15, 2006)

In my country this plant is use as food,eat with some kinda Soup.


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