Dense leaved waterweed
| Dense leaved waterweed | ||||||||||||
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Dense leaved waterweed |
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| Egeria densa | ||||||||||||
| Planch. |
The dense leaved waterweed ( Egeria densa Planch. , Syn .: Elodea densa (Planch.) Caspary ) is an aquatic plant from the frog-bite family (Hydrocharitaceae).
It plays a role in aquaristics because it grows quickly and therefore helps to remove nitrate and its precursors from the water, especially in freshly set up aquariums with not yet formed nitrifying biofilms. However, it only thrives in aquariums where the water temperature is not too high.
description
The densely leaved waterweed is a perennial herbaceous plant that grows in water. It has two to three millimeters thick, hard and easily brittle stems that are densely leafed. The upper leaves usually appear in four-fold whorls . The individual leaves are narrow, elongated and dark green in color.
The plants are dioecious separately sexed ( diocesan ). The small female flowers consist of three green sepals and three white petals and carpels . Male flowers usually have nine stamens .
The species chromosome number is 2n = 48.
distribution and habitat
The original distribution area of the leaved waterweed includes the east of Bolivia, the southeast of Brazil , Uruguay and Argentina . The plant is naturalized worldwide today. It can be detected as a neophyte in waters in Chile , Mexico , North America , East Africa , Australia , New Zealand , Japan and Europe . At least in Europe, unlike the Elodea species, it has so far been regarded as a largely unproblematic naturalized plant. In other regions it is considered a harmful plant because of its rapid growth.
Use in the aquarium hobby
The dense leaved waterweed is one of the plants for planting aquariums that are constantly available in specialist shops, as it is part of the "classic" first planting of an aquarium. It is mostly offered in bundles . It also thrives in soft water . However, it finds the best growing conditions in lime-rich water with higher pH values . It is more of a cold water plant. It can only tolerate temperatures higher than 26 ° C for a short time. The plant is not dependent on the addition of carbon dioxide .
literature
- Bernd Greger: Plants in the freshwater aquarium . Birgit Schmettkamp Verlag, Bornheim 1998, ISBN 3-928819-16-X .
- Christel Kasselmann : aquarium plants . Ulmer Verlag, Stuttgart, 2nd edition 1999, ISBN 3-8001-7454-5 , p. 276.
Individual evidence
- ^ Erich Oberdorfer : Plant-sociological excursion flora for Germany and neighboring areas . 8th edition. Page 113. Stuttgart, Verlag Eugen Ulmer, 2001. ISBN 3-8001-3131-5
- ↑ a b Rafaël Govaerts (Ed.): Egeria densa. In: World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP) - The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved June 19, 2018.
Web links
- Dense leaved waterweed. In: FloraWeb.de.
- Dense leaved waterweed . In: BiolFlor, the database of biological-ecological characteristics of the flora of Germany.
- Profile and distribution map for Bavaria . In: Botanical Information Hub of Bavaria .
- Elodea densa (Planch.) Casp. In: Info Flora , the national data and information center for Swiss flora . Retrieved August 21, 2016.
- Distribution in the Netherlands [1] (Dutch)
- Thomas Meyer: Data sheet with identification key and photos at Flora-de: Flora von Deutschland (old name of the website: Flowers in Swabia )