Cryptocoryne spiralis "B 20" or...

[Gilles]

When i was at Zoo Zajac the other day i saw an interesting Cryptocoryne in their big ADA show tank. It was at the back of the tank and looked like the Cryptocoryne spiralis "B 20", but i doubt that they would have that plant in stock and in their tanks. The lady responsible for the plants told me it had to be a plant from Tropica.

She suggested it was the CRYPTOCORYNE CRISPATULA VAR. BALANSAE, but although the shape of the leaves was ok, it had reddish leaves, no longer then 30cm and max. 0.5-1cm wide. Can anybody suggest which type of crypto it might have been?

 

[Heiko Muth (Sumpfheini)]

Hello Gilles,

that fits the description of Cryptocoryne crispatula var. flaccidifolia:
db/wasserpflanzen/cryptocoryne-crispatula-var-flaccidifolia
http://crypts.home.xs4all.nl/Cryptocoryne/Gallery/fla/fla.html
=> Leaves 5-12 mm wide. C. c. var. balansae: 15-40 mm.
Var. flaccidifolia is mostly labeled "C. retrospiralis" in the trade. (True retrospiralis is surely hardly available.)

The C. spiralis "B 20" is likely a rarity. It was also sold as "C. retrospiralis" in the 1970s, Jan Bastmeijer IDed it as spiralis after he had flowered it. He mentions its close similarity to crispatula var. flaccidifolia, virtually not distinguishable from the latter as long as it doesn't flower. - Perhaps we can't exclude that this spiralis is still in the trade as "retrospiralis"...
Pics 9 & 10: http://crypts.home.xs4all.nl/Cryptocoryne/Gallery/spi/spi.html

Gruß
Heiko

 

[Gilles]

Do you know anybody who sells the flaccidifolia ?

 

[Heiko Muth (Sumpfheini)]

I can't mention any special dealer; but as said, C. c. var. flaccidifolia is mostly known as "C. retrospiralis". There were some offers in the "Tauschbörse" here, otherwise I don't know other possibilities than googling for the names var. flaccidifolia and retrospiralis, or asking in LFS if they can order that.

But back to the plant in the show tank. If it was really from Tropica: from all relevant plant names, they show only the name Cryptocoryne crispatula in their database. Neither crispatula variety names nor retrospiralis or spiralis. The plant in their pics is surely C. crispatula var. balansae, because it has hammered (bullate) leaves: http://tropica.com/da/planter/plantedetaljer/Cryptocorynecrispatula%28125%29/4567
There are also brown and reddish forms of var. balansae.
But the crypt in the tank looked rather like var. flaccidifolia and C. spiralis B20? These plants have only more or less wavy leaf margins, not hammered leaves.
Did you have the impression that the crypt was full grown, or still young?

Gruß
Heiko

 

[Gilles]

Well to be honest i think it was full grown, it spread almost 70 cm so in my understanding it was clearly producing runners. I'll order the tropica one, see what i think of it.

I ordered:
- Aquasabi - Cryptocoryne spiralis "B 20"
- Aquasabi - Cryptocoryne crispatula var. tonkinensis
- Tropica - Cryptocoryne crispatula

I will see how they develop and post some pics, ok?

 

[Heiko Muth (Sumpfheini)]

Very good; till now I thought Tropica's plant is var. balansae, but I remember that the young potted emersed plants looked quite delicate and narrow-leaved. Maybe they have a good reason that they label the plant only C. crispatula, without variety name. We'll see.

However, var. flaccidifolia surely deserves more attention in the aquascaping. And that variety is also variable, with rather brown or green, smooth or undulate forms.

Gruß
Heiko

 

[Gilles]

The plant that i saw had more of a growing pattern like echinodorus tenellus (single plants) then rozet (like normal crypts).. we'll see how it develops My order from Aquasabi already shipped :grow:

In the end i ordered:
3x Aquasabi - Cryptocoryne spiralis "B 20" single plants
1x Aquasabi - Cryptocoryne crispatula var. tonkinensis invitro