# What is this teeny plant?



## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

I started my tank with new Mr Aqua Aquarium Soil, which I planted with Micranthemum Monte Carlo and Ludwigia Peruensis. Yesterday I noticed a very thin plant stem sticking up from the substrate, and today that still very thin stem now has a few very small leaves growing on it. The stem is closer to the diameter of human hair than normal plants. Does anyone have any idea what this is?


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## mistergreen (Mar 3, 2007)

It's probably a terrestrial plant that came from a hitchhiker seed. It should die off eventually if so.


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

I could very easily just pull it out, but my curiosity is too strong to do that! Maybe it is a Martian plant that came in on a meteorite.


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

Is it growing directly out of the clump of Monte Carlo?


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

Michael said:


> Is it growing directly out of the clump of Monte Carlo?


No, it looks like it is coming from the substrate itself. If a terrestrial seed will do that, even though it is not aquatic, that is probably what it is. I didn't know terrestrial plants could do that.


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

I've had seed from terrestrial plants germinate in aquaria, but they don't usually get that far along. Do you have really high dissolved O2? That seems to be the thing that kills terrestrials.


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

Michael said:


> I've had seed from terrestrial plants germinate in aquaria, but they don't usually get that far along. Do you have really high dissolved O2? That seems to be the thing that kills terrestrials.


I have no idea how much dissolved O2 I have, but I see no reason to think it is abnormally high. The built-inn filter does act as a wet-dry filter to some extent, so I should have adequate O2 or more.

The little plant is still doing fine, with the stem looking a bit wider now.


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## Gerald (Mar 24, 2008)

Is it a tri-foliate compound leaf, like something in the pea family?


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

Using a magnifying glass from outside the tank, it seems to be tri-foliate. I'm not familiar with the pea family, so I don't know how similar it is to them. There are two 3 leaf clusters on the stem, but the individual leafs are too tiny to try to describe them.


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## Cavan Allen (Jul 22, 2004)

Yes, it also looks to me like a legume that will soon die. 

PS. There is no such name as "Ludwigia peruensis". That name is still often applied to glandulosa but since what you have has opposite leaves, it isn't that. Might be more evident what it is when it grows in.


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

Cavan Allen said:


> Yes, it also looks to me like a legume that will soon die.
> 
> PS. There is no such name as "Ludwigia peruensis". That name is still often applied to glandulosa but since what you have has opposite leaves, it isn't that. Might be more evident what it is when it grows in.


Buying aquatic plants on line is pretty much an act of faith. Whatever those plants are, they do look good, and they are sprouting new leaves at the junctions of most of the leaves to the stems.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N80TN7S/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


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## Gerald (Mar 24, 2008)

Maybe it's a clover seedling, growing a long skinny stem in a desperate and futile attempt to reach air. 

The Ludwigia looks like the very common (and variable) L. palustris, but there's many similar-looking species so without flowers/fruits it's hard to tell.


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## Stan510 (Dec 23, 2018)

Co2 seems to work miracles so it could be some weed..most likely Oxalis of some type growing like it would in a flooded field. Should die but who knows when? Leave it and be the first on the internet.


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

Stan510 said:


> Co2 seems to work miracles so it could be some weed..most likely Oxalis of some type growing like it would in a flooded field. Should die but who knows when? Leave it and be the first on the internet.


Wow! Will I have naming privileges? First I need to study Latin a bit.


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

_Arcanus hoppii_


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

Michael said:


> _Arcanus hoppii_


I'm looking forward to the write-up on this in the Plant Finder. I guess I need to get some really good photos to go with it.


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## DutchMuch (Apr 12, 2017)

turns out its just yard grass.


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

Whatever it is, it has amused me to watch it as my tank cycles, and the plants I purchased try to grow as fast. Some people say they enjoy watching the snails in their tank. I am one of those who like to watch the plants - you know, enjoying an afternoon watching the grass grow? Any time you have growing things in your aquarium you can't get too bored.


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## Gerald (Mar 24, 2008)

As we get older, things that move and change SLOWLY without losing their old parts have more appeal. I appreciate Anubias more and more each day.


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## DutchMuch (Apr 12, 2017)

Gerald said:


> As we get older, things that move and change SLOWLY without losing their old parts have more appeal. I appreciate Anubias more and more each day.


buce 4 life


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## Stan510 (Dec 23, 2018)

Also things that just thrive. My Vallisneria is the biggest plant in the 240 gallon. A green curtain in two 6" pots. Always is dark green..grows to the top of the 24" deep tank and then across another foot. In gravel or sand,its rampant..in pots elegant. Eh,just pinch off runner every few weeks. Angelfish hover under it. At the surface its like its own ecosystem..with various small snails surviving there while lower down A Queen Botia takes out the extra's. Fun to look DOWN at the tank sometimes.
Same here on Anubia's. I've been adding them and they are living up to the hype. A.coffeefolia is a fave,but A.nana is right there. Others like A.barteri and frazeri are nice too. A lot of deep green if not anything rare or any use of Co2.
I would like to try a Buce..that flowering underwater that they do is worth a chance.


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