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Plant ID please

Mark Evans

Expert
Joined
13 Jun 2008
Messages
6,483
Location
newark notts.
long shot here, would someone possibly give me an id please?

it's an inch tall. starts with on leaf, then 2 and after a couple of weeks it has 3. there's 3 in the tank and its growing out the moss. i dont have a clue as to what it is....i know it;s not glosso.

it's the lonely plant in the middle. it's surrounded by hydrocotle and moss

strangeplant.jpg
 
They remind me of juvinile ferns coming from the gammfylt (not spelt right). It could be some type of parasitic fern, they're something that is rare but common enough to be possible.
 
Garuf said:
They remind me of juvinile ferns coming from the gammfylt (not spelt right). It could be some type of parasitic fern, they're something that is rare but common enough to be possible.

you da man! a quick google and yes, i think you might be right. :clap:
 
ferns grow from spores, so this could be the start of a fern plant?....who knows. i'll keep growing it and see what happens. it's like a stem plant but the new leaf growth is like nothing i've seen before.
 
Correct, the life cycle of ferns is so very complex as a primitive plant form, some need to leach of other species to reach the final spore producing form. A lot of ferns form stem like tendencies in there midlife cycle, ie. the stage after the gamaphyll (I wish I could spell that :( ). This is there mid stage before forming a whole rhizome and taking the adult form.
If you can't see the gam...thing then I'd suggest it's a parasitic form and you've met it's base requirements which release the hormones that will trigger it's growth.
 
you know your stuff mate, thats for sure.

here's an uber close up.

what's strange is the new 'leaf' grows from the same point as the other's not like the usual, where it grows...node, 2 leafs, grows....node....leaves etc etc.

it's definitely come in on the moss. i thought as seed, but it must be a spore. One things for sure, it's growing real good now!

close-1.jpg
 
Hi all,
I'm not sure what it is but I think it most likely a seedling/structure from a higher plant. Bryophytes (mosses) and Pteridophytes (Ferns) show alternation of generations with spores (n) growing into the gametophyte, in ferns with motile spores swimming through a film of moisture to fertilise the archegonia (female bit) and produce the sporophyte plant (2n).

Mosses have simple spore producing structures, but it does look a bit like a liverwort, but I'm sure it isn't.
Liverwort_life_cycle.jpg


Here is the sporophyte of the Fern Onoclea sensibilis (2n fern "plant") starting to grow from the photosynthetic gametophyte prothallus (n).
Onoclea_sensibilis_3_crop.JPG


So this doesn't look quite right for a fern or a moss. The stem and the leaves look much too differentiated for a fern. Can you keep it growing? because I'm interested to see what it turns out to be.

cheers Darrel
 
thanks for the reply darrel.

so, this is really a mystery then. i'll keep it growing. it's doing real well now, in fact all 3 plants are. now to let time reveal it's secret.
 
Hi all,
Could either be a stem with individual leaves growing from 4 buds, or it could be a leaf petiole, with 4 leaflets growing from the end, in that case the bud would be at the base of the petiole. If it was a fern you have a the rhachis (stem) and pinna (frond), but the whole lots usually unfurls from the base in the characteristic fiddle head or crozier form. Keep them coming, it should be I.D. able fairly soon.

Do you have the "4 leaf clover fern" Marsilea quadrifolia? Because that would be my guess at present.

cheers Darrel
 
Hi all,
I did consider Cardamine lyrata, but I've never grown it, but I think the leaves are single and alternate, which is why I discarded it. If it is Marsilea the growing frond, before the "leaves" expand, should be curled, where as if it is a stem of Cardamine it will be straight.
cheers Darrel
 
dw1305 said:
I did consider Cardamine lyrata, but I've never grown it, but I think the leaves are single and alternate, which is why I discarded it.

me to. i've grown the weed before. it's not that I'm certain. but I could be wrong...wouldn't be the first time
 
The plot thickens.

here it is furthest to the right.

tank-1.jpg


It's rooted now and is on fire. for sure it's not cardamin lyrata.

it takes some strange twists and turns. growing randomly, it takes on some strange growth patterns.

This is some new growth. It's never took on this look before now.

strange-plant0003-2.jpg
 
Hi all,
Very interesting, but I'm still none the wiser, not Marsilea or Cardamine lyrata (although it does look a bit like Cardamine pratensis).
I'm pretty sure it is not a fern, an umbellifer (like Hydrocotyle) would be my guess.
cheers Darrel
 
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