The Other Mermaid Weed: P. pectinata

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ForTheHalibut

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Oct 12, 2017
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EDIT: Please note that this plant is threatened and endangered in several states, including Maine. In many states, threatened and endangered species are not only illegal to collect, but are also illegal to possess. You can ignore what I have written below: I will not be collecting this plant, and if it is listed in your state, neither should you.


I'm spending this coming summer working in Portland, Maine, so I started doing some research on aquatic plants to look out for in drainage ditches during bike trips. I was mostly interested in looking up what potamogeton species might be available, but was surprised to discover this lovely plant (of which I could only find very bad pictures):

proserpinacapectinata_03.jpg

Mermaidweed-Combleaf-Bunched-Aquarium-Plant-475x325.jpg

proserpinacapectinata_02.jpg



This is Proserpinaca pectinata, the more serrated relative of Proserpinaca palustris. This field guide gives the following description: "The emergent leaves of P. palustris are blade-shaped and conspicuously serrated. The emergent leaves of P. pectinata are feather-divided to pinnately lobed." Given the unusual leaf shape –apparently a more extreme version of the type of growth we expect from palustris– I was surprised to learn that this plant does not have much of a presence in the planted tank community. Does anyone have any experience with this plant? Is it suitable for the aquarium?
 
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BDP603

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I took my dog for a walk on a river 10 min from where I live a little over a couple weeks ago and found a clump of this growing in a bend away from the water movement. I decided to cut a couple small stems to take home with me. left it in a water bottle for about a week changing the water several times hoping I wouldnt introduce anything else besides this into a tank. I cut the stems I had into smaller pieces as they had roots all over anyway.Then finally planted them about a week and half ago in a somewhat shaded spot in my shrimp tank . The water in the river was very cold(actually had about an 1/8" of ice on top where the plant was). So figured the colder water in the shrimp tank would be best and Id acclimate it to more light in time. The plants still seem very happy, though I did lose one little shoot. Is a pretty interesting looking plant, actually probably my favorite in that tank now. I thought it looked like mermaid weed when I found it but truly wasnt sure what it was. Did some searching online last week and finally figured out what it was. Unfortunately, I read it is endangered in my state and wouldn't be surprised if its the same in Maine too as close as it is. So glad I left the main plant there. Tried taking some pics but the cam on my phone is junk so hopefully I can get some soon when I get a new digi.
 
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BDP603

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also I should add... Id imagine the plants in the pics you posted are of plants that have been growing for awhile in warmer water then the plants I found. The stems I got have leaf nodes so much closer together and arent very long(ranging from 1/2-1" long). Kind of hope the growth stays that way as its pretty cool looking. See what happens
 
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ForTheHalibut

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Thank you for the information! It was very careless of me to not check the conservation status of this plant before making this post. I have edited the original post of this thread - I will certainly not be collecting this plant. I'll still be on the lookout for it though, but for pics only!
 
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