# Another Mystery Stem



## asukawashere (Mar 11, 2009)

Hi again! My local plant club is going on another mission to collect local stuff today, so I'll probably be back later with more photos of random things we found that need IDs, but in the mean time, anybody know anything about this little guy:










Found a bunch of them aroudn the shores of a pond... some underwater, some emergent. Grows side-by-side with Lud. palustris and some kind of Eleocharis here (in Fairfield County, Connecticut). Beyond that, I've got nothing. Vaguely resembles some of the emersed Lindernias I've seen, but I'm not familiar enough with that genus to have any real clue.

Would love to get an ID before the club meeting at 2, but I realize you all have lives outside the task of ID-ing my weeds. :mrgreen: Any help at any time would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!


----------



## Cavan Allen (Jul 22, 2004)

Probably a _Hypericum_, or St. John's wort. _H. ellipticum_ is a possibility, but without flowers (yeah, I say that a lot...), we can't be sure. I collected some of what might have been that up in CT last summer that was growing submersed, but it did not do well and eventually petered out. Your mileage may vary, of course, and what you found may not be the same, so it's worth a shot.


----------



## asukawashere (Mar 11, 2009)

You hit the nail on the head - Hypericum ellipticum it is. I googled for a photo of the flowers and poked around the area I found it in 'til I found one flowering. Thanks for the ID!

Not sure if it'll stay growing aquatically, (maybe it likes cooler water? The submersed stems I found were in the shade...). I'll give it a shot though.


----------



## Cavan Allen (Jul 22, 2004)

Did you key it out? 

What I had held on for about three months. As it grew, it eventually got smaller and smaller, leading me to believe that temperature did play a role in its demise.


----------



## asukawashere (Mar 11, 2009)

No, I didn't - I suppose it could be another species of Hypericum, but the flower bears too close a resemblance to the photos on the CT Botanical Socety's pages for it to be an entirely different genus... unless CT's botanists are all confused, which I somehow doubt.

Maybe I'll put it in my hillstream loach tank and see what happens... though the current there might get to it... hmm...


----------



## Cavan Allen (Jul 22, 2004)

I think the genus is correct; I was just wondering about the certainty of the species.


----------

