• You are viewing the forum as a Guest, please login (you can use your Facebook, Twitter, Google or Microsoft account to login) or register using this link: Log in or Sign Up

Bolbitis mini

tiger15

Member
Joined
14 Mar 2018
Messages
858
Location
USA
Can someone ID what Bolbitis species I have. I bought it as a mini Bolbitis and there are apparently an African and Asian species, and both have the mini form. I am not aware of the same genus of aquatic plants besides Bolbitis can be indigenous to two continents. In term of growth requirements, is there a difference between the two species, or between mini versus regular.
 

Attachments

  • 20191214_072202.jpg
    20191214_072202.jpg
    256.3 KB · Views: 616
Last edited:
I'm pretty sure you are the proud owner of Bolbitis heudelotii. This african fern is relatively adaptable, but differ quite much, depending on which conditions it is growing in. There may well be some variation within species, too. Yours look very much on the small end of scale, but still have nice, broad leaf-plates.
There are plants going around the hobby, labelled 'mini'..........but I have yet to see one, that significantly differ from standard, when growing side by side.
 
Hi all,
but I have yet to see one, that significantly differ from standard, when growing side by side.
I've got one that looks like standard Bolbitis heudelotii, but stays about 1/4 of the size low tech. I think I got it from one of @frothhelmet, @hotweldfire or @a1matt, and I think it might have originated in the USA.

cheers Darrel
 
. I am not aware of the same genus of aquatic plants besides Bolbitis can be indigenous to two continents.
Aponogeton, native to Africa and Asia.
Sagittaria, N and S America, Europe and Asia.
Eleocharis, N and S America, Europe, Africa and Asia.
Probably others too.
 
I'm pretty sure you are the proud owner of Bolbitis heudelotii. This african fern is relatively adaptable, but differ quite much, depending on which conditions it is growing in. There may well be some variation within species, too. Yours look very much on the small end of scale, but still have nice, broad leaf-plates.
There are plants going around the hobby, labelled 'mini'..........but I have yet to see one, that significantly differ from standard, when growing side by side.
According to the plant profiles below, mini Bolbitis heudelotii is from SE Asia, not Africa.

https://buceplant.com/products/mini-bolbitis-baby-leaf?utm_campaign=Buceletter 12/13/2019 (HGrMc9)&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Buce Plant Newsletter&_ke=eyJrbF9lbWFpbCI6ICJoYXBsb2Nocm9taXNAaG90bWFpbC5jb20iLCAia2xfY29tcGFueV9pZCI6ICJMZ3EzcloifQ==&variant=28660448077

https://www.aquasabi.com/Bolbitis-heteroclita-difformis
 
Last edited:
I am very well aware of a Bolbitis 'mini'.This is Bolbitis heteroclita 'difformis'. A variety of a species, coming from Asia - so not a Bolbitis heudelotii.
I have not been able to grow the Bolbitis heteroclita submersed for a longer time - but the 'difformis' variant seem to do. It is not as adabtable as Bolbitis heudelotii, though, and much slower growing.
 
Hi all, I've got one that looks like standard Bolbitis heudelotii, but stays about 1/4 of the size low tech. I think I got it from one of @frothhelmet, @hotweldfire or @a1matt, and I think it might have originated in the USA.

cheers Darrel
Did you grow plants from other source side by side to this, Darrel, for comparison to exclude the smaller growth is just environmental related?
 
smaller growth is just environmental related?
In my case it definitively is.. I used a cutting from a rather large and mature Bolbitis heudelotii, placed it in another tank at a somewhat deeper and more shaded spot it's in there for over 4 years now and it stays significantly smaller and grows much slower. It also stays about 1/4 the size from the mother plant it came from.
 
Hi all,
Did you grow plants from other source side by side to this, Darrel, for comparison to exclude the smaller growth is just environmental related?
Yes, I've got the standard B. heudelotii, and another one that looks similar but remains much smaller. It forms a much denser tuft with shorter stipes.

I'm pretty sure it is a genetically smaller form, rather than just environmental conditions.

cheers Darrel
 
Hi all,
this is where it becomes interesting, then...... Smaller versions somehow seem to appeal to the aquatic hobby.
I'll get a photo tomorrow. If I go back through my PMs I should be able to find out who gave it to me, and whether they mentioned where it had come from originally. Apparently I've got 734 messages, so it may take a while.

I'm leaning towards Gerard, @frothhelmet, and originally from the USA?

Success, from March 2014:
Got a couple varieties of bolbitis that seem to stay pretty small. One matured out from the gametophyte I had earlier. Want to try them?
Got them yesterday, in very good condition. Interesting, exactly like B. heudelotti but about 1/2 the size.
The one with the jagged leaves emerged from the gametophyte I got from Living Waters. I forget the source of the other one.
cheers Darrel
 
Lot of info on Bolbitis, but my question is still not answered. Do I have the African or Asian Bolbitis? Picture is in Post 1.
 
Hi all,
but my question is still not answered. Do I have the African or Asian Bolbitis
I'm pretty sure you are the proud owner of Bolbitis heudelotii. This african fern is relatively adaptable....I am very well aware of a Bolbitis 'mini'.That is Bolbitis heteroclita 'difformis'. A variety of a species, coming from Asia - so not a Bolbitis heudelotii.
Your plant is definitely the African Bolbitis heudelotii.

You can see it in the wild in this thread, <"New plant Zongo..">.

d76a6a6158abb92d4b0058bff2d696ef.jpg


cheers Darrel
 
Hi all,Your plant is definitely the African Bolbitis heudelotii.

You can see it in the wild in this thread, <"New plant Zongo..">.

d76a6a6158abb92d4b0058bff2d696ef.jpg


cheers Darrel
Thanks for the confirmation and the link to the beautiful pic in its natural habitat. I had the regular African Bolbitis before, but it did not make it. The mini Bolbitis is adapting well and spreading. The mini is not only smaller, but the texture also feels softer like down feather. The mini and regular heudelotii are as different as two species. What confused me is the linked profiles described mini heudelotti mistakenly as an Asian species.
 
Last edited:
Hi all,
the link to the beautiful pic in its natural habitat.
That is an amazing thread. Have a look at <"lake Fwa"> as well.
I had the regular African Bolbitis before, but it did not make it.
That is a shame, it is a really good plant low tech.
What confused me is the linked profiles described mini heudelotti mistakenly as an Asian species.
I think the mini Bolbitis they had in mind was the Bolbitis heteroclita 'difformis' the one that @Mick.Dk mentions.
I am very well aware of a Bolbitis 'mini'.This is Bolbitis heteroclita 'difformis'.
I still have a plant of the regular <"Bolbitis heteroclita"> in a bottle garden, it has been in there, totally neglected, for ~10 years.

The bit I put in the tank turned up it toes pretty quickly. I also didn't have any joy with <"Crepidomanes auriculatum">.

cheers Darrel
 
Hi all,
Yes, I've got the standard B. heudelotii, and another one that looks similar but remains much smaller. It forms a much denser tuft with shorter stipes. I'm pretty sure it is a genetically smaller form, rather than just environmental conditions.
I'll get a photo
Here it is.

To try and get a sense of scale, I've scanned a small bit of "normal form" above it as well.

bolbitis_both.jpg


This was how big the normal leaved version had grown before I broke it up.

bolbitis_feb2016_web_zpsbqqmfvrr-jpg-82928-jpg.jpg

cheers Darrel
 
As a newly (and extremely happy) owner of the two kinds of Bolbitis mentioned in @dw1305 's post, I thought it would be appropriate to ask @frothhelmet in this thread if he could shed any more light on the difference and origin of the two smaller forms.
Im really keen to establish the differences if any between the two, as I would like to spread them to hobbyists in my country but would prefer not to "make up new labels" for the two to tell them apart.
To be clear this post has nothing to do with the species sold as Bolbitis difformis / baby leaf etc.

Number 1
The one with the jagged leaves emerged from the gametophyte I got from Living Waters.

Number 2
I forget the source of the other one.

@frothhelmet , you wouldnt happen to have any pictures or be able to describe the jagged leaves?
Is there a chance one of them originated in the USA?
There seems to be a Bolbitis in the USA traded under the name "Small form".

One of the smaller varieties have been circulated around by Darrel and is being sold here on the forum as Bolbitis heudelotii Compact.
Do we know if this is Number 1 or Number 2, and if it is truly the same as the one called Compact?
From my research so far Compact is quite a lot more common in Poland and the surrounding countries, traded between hobbyists. All of them describe it as smaller than the regular version.
Ive been able to compile quite a few pictures of their Compact that I hope to use as comparison once my two specimens mature.
 
Back
Top