There is a plant sold as "big bear" Echinodorus -> what exactly is this species and if man made hybrid where did it originate ?

[anewbie]

I have several of these "big bear" as well as "little bear". Here is one aquarium showing how fast it grows without co2 or fertilizer - take into account the aquarium has an ec of 21 and ph below 5:



Aquarium when setup:


The third picture shows you just how fast this plant (the two Echinodorus in the back center) have grown in under a year. What i can't figure out is what exactly is the nature of this species and why it grows so fast...

 

[Maf 2500]

Both hybrids from Germany bred by the Hoechstetter nursery, also known as 'Großer Bär' and 'Kleiner Bär'. The suggestion in Christine Kesselmann's book is that several species and hybrids were involved in the parentage during hybridization experiments at the nursery in the 1990's. She lists the supposed parents of Little but not Big Bear and I do not know if they came from the same breeding line so haven't bothered writing them out here.

 

[anewbie]

Both hybrids from Germany bred by the Hoechstetter nursery, also known as 'Großer Bär' and 'Kleiner Bär'. The suggestion in Christine Kesselmann's book is that several species and hybrids were involved in the parentage during hybridization experiments at the nursery in the 1990's. She lists the supposed parents of Little but not Big Bear and I do not know if they came from the same breeding line so haven't bothered writing them out here.

I have her book but it sounds like the names have changed - i was familiar with prinz kleiner and kleiner bar but it sounds like from waht you said someone simply renamed them little bear and big bear. Hum... pity they aren't natural but they sure do grow well.

 

[Maf 2500]

Yes, just translations of the names I am afraid. (Prinz Kleiner would be Little Prince, for example.) Technically, cultivar names should not be translated but it happens all the time in all different branches of plant growing, causing heaps of confusion when comparing plants grown in different countries. The funniest/saddest situation is when plants are moved to a second country, given a translated name, then re-imported to the original country and re-translated to something that means the same but uses different words. For instance, a cultivar called 'Crimson Sword' might be exported to another country with a different language, be given a translated name, then come back to the original country and find itself translated as 'Red Blade'. ... then you find people debating on the internet as to which is the better out of 'Crimson Sword' and 'Red Blade'!

No wonder scientists use Latin names for species!