# Sagittaria mislabeled as Vallisneria?



## littleguy (Jan 6, 2005)

I bought some supposed Vallisneria spiralis from my local big box store a couple months ago. So far, despite great growth among the rest of the plants in the tank, this "Vallisneria" is staying very short, approx 3" high at the most. The few runners it has sent out are very short (1-2" from the mother plant) as well.

Could this be a type of sagittaria that was mislabeled? The plant label has the brand name "Aquatic" at the top. Anyone ever have mislabeling mixups before?

Also I'm having a hard time telling the difference between sagittaria and vallisneria, so if anyone knows of some good tell-tale signs to distinguish them, I'd love to hear.

Thanks!


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## evercl92 (Aug 14, 2006)

Get a pic of your plant, to help us ID it.


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## SkinniMini (Mar 26, 2006)

You could probably find something with a Google search, but here's a good picture
http://www.pondplants.com/aisle39.html
Just scroll down a few.
I've never had spiral vals, but if they are anything like my jungle vals, they should be growing like crazy! And some of mine have grown to around a yard long!


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## HeyPK (Jan 23, 2004)

Sagittaria has thicker, more opaque leaves, and the central vein is more prominent. The central vein or midrib actually makes a little ridge down the center of the leaf. Vallisneria has thinner, more translucent leaves with veins that don't noticeably add to the thickness of the leaf. Also, near the tip of the Vallisneria leaf, along the edges, you can see very small jagged tooth like structures, called denticles. Sagittaria leaves do not have these.


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