hisplantwas,so to speak,oneof the
founding fathers of the aquarium
flora and was known as long ago as the
beginningof the20thcentury in the tanks
of our great-grandfathers. The first
importationwas by Paul Matte (Lankwitz,
near Berlin) from Florida in 1905. The
botanical term amplexicaul (as in the
scientific species name "amplexicaulis", a
well-known synonym) means “embracing
the stem” and refers to the leaves, which
aren’t joined to the stem by stalks but
attached fro the entire breadth of the
baseof the leaf.
From a systematic viewpoint,
Bacopa
caroliniana
belongs to the figwort family
(Scophulariaceae), which contains some
1,700 species worldwide. Well-known
European representatives include the
mulleins (
Verbascum
), and the Butterfly
Bush,
Buddleia davidii
, a popular
ornamental shrub. The family contains
only a few aquarium plants. Along with
Bacopa
,
Limnophila
(Ambulia) is probably
the most important genus from a
vivariumviewpoint.
Thedistributionof theGiantBacopa
The Giant Bacopa is by no means
restricted to Carolina but found in large
parts of the southern and central USA,
with the focusof itsdistributionalong the
Atlantic coast.Thismeans it automatically
has one of the prerequisites of an
“evergreen” aquarium plant: temperature
tolerance. While it may not be winter-
hardyhere inGermany, it readily tolerates
NEWS104
6
Plants
Giant Bacopa, submersehabitus All photos:FrankSchäfer
T
Thewell-stockedpet store offers aquarists and terrarium keepers awide
rangeofplants suitable for thehomebiotope, though the full potential of
many suchplants isn’t exploited.This is the casewith theGiant Bacopaor
WaterHyssop,
Bacopacaroliniana.
TheGiantBacopa -
avivariumplant that canbeusedalmostanywhere
bySarahNieten
Lexicon
Giant Bacopa
Bacopa: fromanameused for the
plant inGuyana.
carolinianameans "from
Carolina".
amplexicaulismeans "stem-
embracing".
