# Another ID needed



## Nachos (Jan 6, 2012)

These two circled plants are in a brackish water ditch. I guess they could just be aquatic weeds but what are they? Will they likely survive submersed in an aquarium?


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## Cavan Allen (Jul 22, 2004)

1st is a _Ranunculus_, possibly _R. scleratus_ (some people are allergic to it!)
http://www.missouriplants.com/Yellowalt/Ranunculus_sceleratus_page.html
Will grow submersed, but nothing to write home about.

2nd looks like _Ludwigia peploides_, which will grow submersed only as a seedling. Not a good aquarium plant.


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## asukawashere (Mar 11, 2009)

Cavan Allen said:


> Will grow submersed, but nothing to write home about.


I protest that comment - I like R. sceleratus! It's a cool little plant - not as unique-looking as R. inundatus, but still interesting to look at. I actually literally wrote home about it last spring - the letter just happened to include a specimen I found in Florida. XD


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## Cavan Allen (Jul 22, 2004)

Wasn't leggy at all?


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## HeyPK (Jan 23, 2004)

It's common name is the cursed buttercup!:scared:


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## asukawashere (Mar 11, 2009)

Cavan Allen said:


> Wasn't leggy at all?


All that means is it needs to be planted behind something else, not that it's completely unattractive  From what I've seen of it growing in the wild, it does stay more compact in shallower, brightly-lit water (then again, what doesn't?). It's not the plant's fault that I can't be bothered to provide it with such conditions in captivity - I'm a lazy bum, after all.

Besides, the one I mailed home from Florida was a particularly bushy, lovely specimen:








Admittedly it didn't stay quite so dense when I stuck it in a tank, but still... that plant was submersed in a ditch where I found it.

Only real drawback is that it's an annual - mine fizzled out after awhile. Not sure if that always happens or if I did something to kill it off. I have found a local collection spot for it, though, so I'll give it another shot this spring and see what happens.



HeyPK said:


> It's common name is the cursed buttercup!:scared:


Neither I nor my fishsitter (who received it for me) were harmed in the handling of it. On the other hand, poison ivy also doesn't bother me, so I may not be the best point of reference...


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## HeyPK (Jan 23, 2004)

I read that the juice from leaves or stems caused long-lasting sores, but I think I recall pulling up a lot of it when it was a weed in my garden, and I never got any symptoms. Maybe it's poisonous properties have been over exaggerated.


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## Lakeplants (Feb 21, 2011)

Looks like R. sceleratus all right. I think it's a beautiful plant when submerged. It's fairly common around here in ephemeral pools.


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## asukawashere (Mar 11, 2009)

HeyPK said:


> I read that the juice from leaves or stems caused long-lasting sores, but I think I recall pulling up a lot of it when it was a weed in my garden, and I never got any symptoms. Maybe it's poisonous properties have been over exaggerated.


My guess is it's something like poison ivy - not everybody's allergic, and the reaction varies among those who are. All Ranunculus are toxic to varying degrees, just not usually dangerously so.


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