# Plant ID.



## Tanan (Mar 11, 2009)

I got it from a guy saying its Potamegaton. I am not sure it is. And if it is then whats the full name. Can someone please help.


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## Seattle_Aquarist (Mar 7, 2008)

Hi Tanan,

It looks a lot like my Hygrophila lancea.


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## Tanan (Mar 11, 2009)

It doesnt look like anything as hygrophilia lancea.


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## miremonster (Mar 26, 2006)

Hello Tanan,
what's the size (length, broadth) of the leaves? Are they rather translucent? Do the stems easily break apart?
I guess it's a Najas, probably the common Najas guadalupensis.


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## Tanan (Mar 11, 2009)

Hey Miremonster.
The length of leaves are around 2-2.5 inches. They are pretty thin and translucent and really fragile. And some of the leaves under 2.9 WPG have gotten a reddish tint. 
I'll try to upload more pics.


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## miremonster (Mar 26, 2006)

Thx; the length of 2-2,5 inches (more than 5 cm) exceeds the normal length of Najas guadalupensis leaves (up to ca. 3 cm, 1-2 mm broad).
I meant, are the stems (not only the leaves) very brittle?
At the moment I can't exclude a Potamogeton (P. gayi?), but perhaps Your new pics will be more telling. 
Does the plant develop kind of runners in the ground?


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## totziens (Jun 28, 2008)

The structure of the leaf does not look like P. gayi at all to me. Maybe other family of Potamogeton...I don't know.


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## Tanan (Mar 11, 2009)

You can see the redden/brown leaf that reached top of the surface and turned red.


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## miremonster (Mar 26, 2006)

Overall look is rather Najas than Potamogeton for me, but there are still too few details visible, e.g. in what pattern the leaves are detached on the stem. Could You make sharp photos of the plant outside of the tank?
If You have a magnifying lens: are there tiny teeth on the leaf margin and tip?
No further informations about the plant by the guy who gave it to You?


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## Tanan (Mar 11, 2009)

How about these? No serrated edges. 
The guy keeps saying it P.gayi. I doubt that.


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## miremonster (Mar 26, 2006)

I doubt that as well. Has he any info about the origin of the plant?
Again, does it develop runners in the substrate? Potamogetons as P. gayi sprawl by runners with many new stems. 1 leaf per node.
P. gayi in the Plantfinder: http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/...ils.php?id=89&category=genus&spec=Potamogeton
Najas guadalupensis:
http://www.forestryimages.org/browse/detail.cfm?imgnum=5396691
But Najas species have usually teeth on the leaf edges, N. guadalupensis very tiny ones, rather visible with a magnifier.


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## Tanan (Mar 11, 2009)

Najas guadalupensis! The plant is exactly like that in the pic of N.gaudalpensis! Thanks a ton mire. I will check for teeth when I'll find a magnifier.


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## miremonster (Mar 26, 2006)

N. guadalupensis was my guess in my 1st post. But You wrote that the leaves are around 2 - 2.5 inches long, that would be very big for guadalupensis, the leaves of this species are around 1.5 - 3 cm long, that means ca. 0.6 - 1.2 inches. Therefore I guess it may be another Najas species (there are quite many species). However N. guadalupensis is the most common Najas in the hobby.


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## Tanan (Mar 11, 2009)

So its might be variation of N.gaudalupensis?


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## miremonster (Mar 26, 2006)

I don't know if ca. 5 cm long leaves are still in the variation range of Najas guadalupensis. The info sources that I know, e.g. the Kasselmann book, write 1,5-3 cm leaf length. The N. guadalupensis that I've had in my tank had about this leaf size. As mentioned, there are other similar Najas species except guadalupensis, but I know too few about them. I believe we need a Najas expert...


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## miremonster (Mar 26, 2006)

Hello Tanan,
ok, after your plant was mentioned in that thread: http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/plant-id/88712-native-plant-sind-pakistan.html I'm trying to get closer to an ID. But I need more info, resp. answers to the questions I already asked you above:
- The person from whom you've gotten the plant collected it in the nature in Pakistan, is that right? Was it the same location as that where you've found the Ottelia alismoides? Did you collect the presumable Najas yourself in the place where the Ottelia grew?

- Does the plant produce runners in the ground, or not? (Potamogeton gayi and other potamogetons develop runners. Btw., if the plant is collected in the nature: P. gayi is a South American species and doesn't occur naturally in Pakistan.)


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## Tanan (Mar 11, 2009)

1) The plant in this post is given to me by a friend, who doesn't know where it originated or collected from. Ottelia alismoides and other plants were collected by another friend from a local rice paddy. The plant that I found was exactly the plant mentioned in this post. It's surely some najas sp. if not guadelpensis. I don't have any of the plants at the moment with me but a few friend still have it. I'll ask them to send me some pictures. Again thanks a ton.


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## Tanan (Mar 11, 2009)

2) I think the P.gayi thing was a misunderstanding on my friends part. Sorry for that.


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## miremonster (Mar 26, 2006)

Tanan said:


> 2) I think the P.gayi thing was a misunderstanding on my friends part. Sorry for that.


Although it looks like a Najas, I still have some doubt. Najas species have teeth on the leaf margin and tip. In N. guadalupensis the teeth are very tiny, visible with a magnifying lens. Potamogeton species have mostly no teeth. Therefore my question if there are underground runners (as in Potamogeton).



Tanan said:


> The plant that I found was exactly the plant mentioned in this post.


OK; so I assume that the plant in this thread is native to Pakistan.
According to the Flora of Pakistan http://www.tropicos.org/Name/40024943?projectid=32, 4 Najas species occur here: Najas marina, N. graminea, N. minor, N. oguraensis.
Najas marina can be ruled out, this species has big spines on the leaves and stems.
N. minor and N. oguraensis have very narrow leaves with small but clearly visible spines on the leaf margins: http://www.tropicos.org/Image/100165470?projectid=32, they can be ruled out as well.

Najas graminea... description: http://www.tropicos.org/Name/22200016?projectid=32
Drawing: http://www.efloras.org/object_page.aspx?object_id=122252&flora_id=2
Perhaps your plant belongs to graminea, but I'm not sure.


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## Tanan (Mar 11, 2009)

It's definitely N.graminea.


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