Schultes Schultes f 1830
Family: Cabombaceae. Synonyms: Nectris Jurcata Leandro (nom. nud.), Cabomba piauhyensis Gardner (1844); C. warmingii Caspary, C. pubescens Ule. Etymology: Cabomba: see C. aquatica\ furcata: fork-shaped, (bi)furcate, refers to the leaf blade.
Distribution: In the warmer regions of South America, occasionally in Central America. Description: Aquatic plant with 40-100-cm long shoots. Leaves usually in 3-leaved whorls, rarely opposite, 0.3-2.0 cm petiolate. Leaf blade reniform to almost circular in contour, 1.5-3.0 cm long, 2-6 cm wide, 5-7-merous at the base, leaf segments several times di- and trichotomously furcate and with up to 60 hair-like segments. Plants olive green to reddish brown, under intense light wine red coloration.
The flowering shoot has up to 6-merous leaf whorls and only few floating leaves. These are peltate, linear, 13-25 mm long, 1-3 mm wide ("warmingii" type less than 1 mm wide), olive green-colored. Rowers trimerous, 6-15 mm in size, each with 3 pale to deep reddish or blue-violet, occasionally almost white, yellow at the base sepals and petals; petals slightly auriculate, with yellow base patches; (3-)6 stamens; (1)2-3(4) carpels with (1—)5 ovules. Seeds globular, 1-2 mm thick, echinate, can probably survive dry periods.
Culture: Of all the Cabomba species, C. furcata is the most difficult to maintain. Due to the deep brown-red coloration, the aquarist is repeatedly misled into trying this conspicuously decorative species. In the aquarium, in the long run, the shoots will only last in conditions of very soft, salt-deficient water with a pH-value in the neutral to highly acid range. Also important is intensive lighting and totally clear water. The substrate should be rich in nutrients. The optimum temperature range hovers between 24 and 30 °C. The shoots will decompose within a short time under bad growth conditions. In healthy plants propagation is very easy through lateral shoots. Several cuttings, arranged in terraced form, appear specifically decorative. The author made several failed attempts at cultivating the "warmingii" type.
Cabomba furcata in its native habitat on the Rio Guapore (Brazil). ■
Ecology: Cabomba furcata exists both in stagnant, temporary waters and in quiet places in rivers with slow-flowing water. In the tropical regions of South America, this typical soft water plant can be found very often. The author had the opportunity to take several water analyses in native habitats which are summarized here as follows: 1) Brazil (3/1986), marsh, standing water, water temperature 28-35 °C, pH value 5.5, GH/KH < 1 °dH, 18 |xS/cm; 2) Brazil (refer to the complete water analysis of the Rio Guapore on p. 46); 3) Venezuela (see the complete water analysis of biotope No. 3 with C. furcata and Ludwigia inclinata on p. 40); and 4) Bolivia (8/1991, analysis W. Staeck): Lago de Mandiore, stagnant, shallow water, sandy-boggy substrate, sunny, water temperature 25 °C at 14:00 h, GH 1 °dH, KH 4°dH, pH 7.6, 60 |xS/cm.
The "warmingii" type was found in sunny locations in the northern Pantanal (Brazil) in marsh areas featuring stagnant, shallow water. The shoots were rooted in the boggy-loamy soil or floated freely on the water surface. Several water analyses, which were conducted during the wet season in March
1986, resulted in the following data: water temperature 33-35 °C, pH 5.5, GH/KH < 1 °dH. During the dry season (8/1987), the shoots displayed isolated growth because many pools had dried out. At another location near Vila Bela, plants were found in a shaded pool with standing water under the following conditions: temperature 25 °C, pH 6.2, GH/ KH < 1 °dH, 5 |xS/cm. Other: 0rgaard (1991) put both Cabomba "warmingii," as well as C. piauhyensis— previously cultivated under a false name— into synonymy with C. furcata. A chromosome count revealed that the "warmingii" type is almost certainly a diploid form of C. furcata, which is smaller in overall size and displays a special adaptability to certain environmental conditions.
Further reading: Kasselmann (1988), 0r-gaard (1991, 1992).
Flowers of Cabomba furcata. Cabomba furcata (type "warmingii").
Flowers of Cabomba furcata. Cabomba furcata (type "warmingii").
Post a comment