# C. minima "gasseri-like (Schneider s. n.)"



## Kai Witte (Jan 30, 2006)

This crypt came from a commercial import by A. Schneider (Zuzgen, Switzerland); it's supposed to originate from Sumatra.

This strain, especially the inflorescence, resembles the crypt originally described as C. gasseri (which is currently regarded as synonym of C. minina). Note that there are also some similarities with C. scurrilis (which has distinctly larger inflorescences).


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## Kai Witte (Jan 30, 2006)




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## SCMurphy (Jan 28, 2004)

That's a beautiful plant, Kai. When did you get it?


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## Kai Witte (Jan 30, 2006)

Hello Sean,

ECS meeting 2005; the first 2006 crypt to flower will take 2 more weeks or so...


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## ts168 (Apr 13, 2004)

HI Kai, Nice one. So i assume this c. minima you grow it emmerse?


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## Kai Witte (Jan 30, 2006)

Yes, Teck Song, I was eager to see it flowering... 

Since many are interested in it, I didn't got around to testing a runner submersed. Anyway, all blackwater crypts I tried so far fared well (or even better than emersed) in submersed culture.

This minima (as well as apparently all other known strains from Sumatra) is more demanding than minima from Bukit Merah (and all/most other minima from the Malay Peninsula) and seems to prefer typical blackwater conditions whereas the latter still does nicely submersed in rainwater with almost neutral pH.


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## AaronT (Apr 26, 2004)

Kai,

How are you setting up your submersed blackwater tanks? I was thinking of doing something like a layer of the leaf litter under some coarse sand.


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## Ibn (Oct 20, 2004)

That's a beautiful plant, Kai.


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## ruki (Jul 4, 2006)

Wow, such a nice specimen. Wish mine looked that good.


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## Kai Witte (Jan 30, 2006)

Thanks folks!



> How are you setting up your submersed blackwater tanks?


Hello Aaron, I just posted this thread: http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/...-culture-of-blackwater-crypts.html#post270526



> I was thinking of doing something like a layer of the leaf litter under some coarse sand.


Any top layer compacts the leaf-mold. It can work but usually it's not a good idea. Unless you're reproducing a blackwater stream with fast current, you don't need a top layer - just some imagination and possibly several weeks of emersed culture as a head start...


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## Xema (Mar 24, 2004)

hello, nice plant!

Is it from Sumatra?


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## nswhite (Aug 25, 2006)

What a pretty crypt.


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## Kai Witte (Jan 30, 2006)

Yes, Xema, from Sumatra, too. Since this was a commercial import, there is no specific collecting locality known and no similar plants have been collected since. However, it shares with the type material of gasseri the lemon colored inflorescence and the tooth along the limb's margin (resembling scurrilis, too). I'd search the central lowlands of eastern Sumatra (possibly the Jambi area) for these crypts...


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## Kai Witte (Jan 30, 2006)

BTW, I'm sad to report that the very specimen shown flowering here got cooked to death in transit - despite using a styrofoam box! I didn't experienced any problems related to freezing cold so far but protecting shipments reliably against excessive heat seems to be difficult...


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