Elatine americana
February 25th, 2009Elatine americana is a North American native plant found in the eastern half of the United States. It is a fragile looking plant, but bushes readily and has beautiful bright green leaves. Just like other Elatine species, Elatine americana can be aggressively trimmed to stay lower and increase branching. I think it may grow too upright to use as an effective foreground plant, but it is an excellent plant for the mid-ground.
Elatine americana grows in cold weather climates, but I haven’t had any problems growing it in normal tropical temperatures. It grows rather quickly, especially with increased CO2 and fertilizers. I have not tried growing it under low-light or non-CO2 style aquariums, so I cannot speak for it’s suitability in these situations.
Elatine americana is one of the few new plants in the hobby that has fantastic aquascaping potential. For that reason, I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a fine-leafed midground plant, background plant in nano-tanks.
February 26th, 2009 at 2:40 am
Great post and though I’m not an American, glad to see more use of native plants.
September 30th, 2009 at 11:00 pm
Looks a lot like callitriche heterophylla. (ID not certain)
[IMG]http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee86/88seds88/P1060076.jpg[/IMG]
October 1st, 2009 at 5:55 am
Chris, you’re absolutely right that Elatine americana can look a lot like Callitriche. When grown emersed, they’re distinct, but also, Callitriche is an annual, which never survives the winter in our aquariums. Elatine americana keep on going! (That’s been the experience of anyone I’ve ever known who’s collected a Callitriche species.)