# What is the difference between these crypts



## tayjay76 (Feb 16, 2013)

I only ask because I have a crypt in my 29 gallon that looks like this:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&...g.com%2Fprofiles%2Fundulated-crypt%2F;800;600

I have another in my 15 gallon, I bought this one as a pot and it looks like this:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&...m-plants%2Fcryptocoryne-undulata.html;850;850

Why do these plants look different? They are both called crypt undelata.


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## miremonster (Mar 26, 2006)

Possibilities for differences between plants from the trade with the same label:
1 - misidentification, wrong labeling, confusion (quite common, often not deliberately but by lack of knowledge),
2 - plasticity of the plant caused by different growth conditions (e.g. emersed - submerged),
3 - genetically fixed variation between plants of the same species.

The plant in Your 1st pic is in the submerged state, the 2nd is an emersed one. There's often a great difference between the emersed and submerged form of the same crypt.

Cryptocoryne undulata belongs to the species group of closely related crypts from Sri Lanka (undulata, beckettii, walkeri, wendtii), with rather fuzzy species limits. These look very similar to each other when they are grown emersed unless they have inflorescences. Confusion of the species in the trade may occur. And e.g. Cryptocoryne wendtii contains a lot of different variants, partly resembling other species. 
That means, I think, all 3 causes for different look may be the case here.

[edit] Reliable infos about crypts are given on Jan Bastmeijer's "The Crypts Pages", here pics of emersed and submerged C. undulata: http://crypts.home.xs4all.nl/Cryptocoryne/Gallery/und/und.html


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## tayjay76 (Feb 16, 2013)

That makes sense, thanks. Do you think that the emersed grown one will eventually look like the submersed one in time of being in my aquarium?


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## miremonster (Mar 26, 2006)

I think it's possible, but I'm not experienced enough with emersed grown, not flowering Sri Lankan crypts to tell if the emersed plant is really a C. undulata.


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