# Wild collected Texas plants



## corsair75 (Dec 21, 2011)

Spring is here early, and I decided to collect a few plants at the river and start a new tank. I tried my hand at _Samolus Valerandis_ in my 55, but it didn't work out well. I put together a 6 gallon setup with a brighter light and a tiny pressurized CO2 setup to try again. When I went to get more Samolus, I found a variety of plants and grabbed a little of everything. Any help identifying these would be much appreciated.

This is everything I collected. Four plants besides the Samolus. Everything was submerged when I found it, but water levels change there all the time and any of this stuff may be primarily emergent.










#1 Hairgrass type thing. Really hope this does well!










#2 This one puts down a significant taproot. Larger examples were about a foot tall










#3 Small circular 'pads' in the center of the photo. Grows from a rhizome in the cracks of the rocks. Very pretty stuff










#4 Rear center, grows from a large vinelike rhizome and colonies can get very large. Mostly emergent growths. Red coloration in the veins of the leaves.


















Thanks!


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## XMX (Feb 17, 2011)

I tried doing the same with some of the local plants here in California, but they didn't do well. I hope you succeed the second time around.


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## corsair75 (Dec 21, 2011)

Thanks! Not sure if this will work or not. Compared to last time, I have more light, better substrate, and CO2. At least the lizard is getting a kick out of it.


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## mudboots (Jun 24, 2009)

Not sure on your ID, but I'll take a stab at a response just for kicks:

The grass looks like a grass...too bad there's no seed head on it, but I don't think it'll be too happy for long unless it's Texas wildrice, in which case it's illegal...keep us posted...or not... 

Number 2 reminds me of a brassica, but I'm really not sure where these were collected (soil type, pH, site of short versus long duration inundation...et cetera).

3 is likely a Hydro. and it may just take time.

Number 4 reminds me of emmersed Ammania sp. growth. You might give that genus a try and see where it leads you.


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## corsair75 (Dec 21, 2011)

Thanks for the reply!

The grass probably isn't wildrice. When I looked it up, that one is pretty specific to one stretch of the San Marcos river. This was collected in the upper Gaudalupe which is an hour's drive distant. I'll just have to see what happens. Good chance it may just be grass.

Brassica is a definate maybe. I'm unsure about the soil type, but the river is hard and alkaline. It's fed by a limestone aquifer. Temps this time of year are lower 70's. Water levels can vary considerably with rain.

Couldn't find pictures of a hydro. What's the full name?

As for number 4, most of the ammania pictures I saw looked like a more upright plant. Of course, maybe that's just what it looks like when it isn't being beat to death with water.

I think most of these had no intentions of growing underwater forever. I'm hoping the CO2, and fertilizer might make up for that but only time will tell.


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## asukawashere (Mar 11, 2009)

I agree that the grass is probably just grass, not an aquatic plant.



corsair75 said:


> Couldn't find pictures of a hydro. What's the full name?


_Hydrocotyle sp_. is what you're looking for... hard to tell them apart w/o a flower, but H. umbellata is very common down south AFAIK.


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## corsair75 (Dec 21, 2011)

Thanks!

I got a chance to run by the house, and I take back what I said about #4 not being upright. It was bent over growing in tangles in the current, but after a couple of days in the tank it's perked up and spreading its leaves. Most of the references to _ammania_ are asian plants. Do any originate here, or is it likely an invader?

I found _H. umbellata_, and that's it I think. Apparently if it gets too big the trimmings are tasty on salad.

I pulled the grass out and stuck a few more of #4 (ammania?) in it's place.


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## Cavan Allen (Jul 22, 2004)

#4 looks like a _Veronica_. Maybe. Tough to tell from the photo. Not an _Ammannia_ though.


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## asukawashere (Mar 11, 2009)

corsair75 said:


> I found _H. umbellata_, and that's it I think. Apparently if it gets too big the trimmings are tasty on salad.


I wouldn't say it's definitively H. umbellata unless you have a flower to examine - there are several Hydrocotyle species native to the southern U.S. that all look more or less alike. USDA recognizes H. bonariensis, H. prolifera, H. umbellata, and H. verticillata as native to TX, all of which have nearly identical foliage. Your plant could be any of those. (H. ranunculoides is also native, but has distinct foliage).

Can't say I've ever tried Hydrocotyle on a salad, but a number of aquatic plants are in fact edible. It's just that they're more valuable to us as decor than dinner. :mrgreen: The invasive watercress in my yard, however, that's going in a bowl with some ranch dressing.

I would tend to agree with Cavan on the 4th one, it does look a lot like a Veronica species...


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## corsair75 (Dec 21, 2011)

_Veronica_ led me to Water Speedwell (_Veronica anagallis-aquatica L_). I think that's #4, thanks! I guess you can eat that one too. The best pictures I found were linked to a "food for free" website, lol










That just leaves this guy.


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## corsair75 (Dec 21, 2011)

So far so good, the water speedwell in particular! The first plantings are already significantly larger and will probably hit the top of the tank by Monday at this rate.










Plant #2 has fared not so well, with half the leaves melting. There is some fresh growth at the base though, so I'm not giving up just yet.

Now this isn't a plant ID, but I wonder if somebody might know the answer. Everything I've pulled from the guadalupe has these little "flukes" on it. They look like a flatworm, but with three feeder arms on the "head." They don't eat the plants, and seem to be filter filters. This isn't much of a picture, they're very small. It's the little black marks on the CO2 diffuser.










Thanks!


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## Cavan Allen (Jul 22, 2004)

Planaria maybe?


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## green857 (Jan 7, 2011)

Yeah I would say flatworms/planaria. there are a number of different species some light some dark in color.
I think they are kind of cool. I believe they eat detritus, and fish will gobble them up. There is one research paper out that seems to conclude that they produce a substance toxic to shrimp which prevents them from being eaten by them. Though I dont think they are actually dangerous to shrimp?


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## corsair75 (Dec 21, 2011)

Planaria would make sense, as that family is so diverse. These little guys lack the trangular "head" of the common varieties, but that may not mean much. I couldn't find any examples of a higher order worm in North America that has the "feeders" on the front end, but isn't sessile.

So far the shrimp in this tank haven't touched them. I used some rock from the same location in my 55, and the shrimp did attack those. Many of them died too, so that little mystery may be solved at last... I think they are neat. When the rain lets up I'm going to grab some minnows for the tank and they may clear them out. Hopefully not though 

I'm starting a thread for tracking progress here if anybody wants to follow along. Thanks again everybody!


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