Cryptocoryne

Life-forms

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Monocots
Ordo: Alismatales

Familia: Araceae
Subfamilia: Aroideae
Tribus: Cryptocoryneae
Genus: Cryptocoryne
Species: C. affinis – C. alba – C. albida – C. annamica – C. aponogetifolia – C. aura – C. auriculata – C. bangkaensis – C. batangkayanensis – C. beckettii – C. bogneri – C. bullosa – C. ciliata – C. cognata – C. consobrina – C. cordata – C. coronata – C. crispatula – C. cruddasiana – C. decus-silvae – C. dewitii – C. edithiae – C. elliptica – C. ferruginea – C. fusca – C. griffithii – C. hudoroi – C. ideii – C. jacobsenii – C. keei – C. lingua – C. loeiensis – C. longicauda – C. mekongensis – C. minima – C. moehlmannii – C. nevillii – C. noritoi – C. nurii – C. pallidinervia – C. parva – C. pontederiifolia – C. purpurea – C. pygmaea – C. retrospiralis – C. schulzei – C. scurrilis – C. sivadasanii – C. spiralis – C. striolata – C. tambraparaniana – C. thwaitesii – C. timahensis – C. uenoi – C. undulata – C. usteriana – C. versteegii – C. vietnamensis – C. villosa – C. walkeri – C. wendtii – C. willisii – C. wongsoi – C. yujii – C. zaidiana – C. zukalii
Source(s) of checklist:
Name

Cryptocoryne Fisch. ex Wydler, 1830

Type Species: Cryptocoryne spiralis (Retz.) Fisch. ex Wydler.

Synonyms

Myrioblastus Wall. ex Griff., Proc. Linn. Soc. London 1: 264 (1845).

References

Fischer, F.E.L.v., 1830. Linnaea 5: 428

Links

Govaerts, R. et al. 2018. Cryptocoryne in World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2018 Nov. 03. Reference page.
International Plant Names Index. 2018. Cryptocoryne. Published online. Accessed: Nov. 03 2018.
The Plant List 2013. Cryptocoryne in The Plant List Version 1.1. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2018 Nov. 03.
Tropicos.org 2018. Cryptocoryne. Missouri Botanical Garden. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2018 Nov. 03.

Vernacular names
čeština: kryptokoryna
Deutsch: Wasserkelch
suomi: Melalehdet
русский: Криптокорина

Cryptocoryne is a genus of aquatic plants from the family Araceae. The genus is naturally distributed in tropical regions of India, Southeast Asia and New Guinea.[1]

The typical habitats of Cryptocoryne are mostly streams and rivers with not too rapidly flowing water, in the lowland forest. They also live in seasonally inundated forest pools or on river banks submerged only at high water. Although the proper scientific name of the genus is Cryptocoryne, they are commonly referred to as crypts. The English name "water trumpet" refers to their inflorescence, a spadix enclosed by a spathe (typical for the whole family), which resembles a trumpet.

The first Cryptocoryne species was described in 1779 as Arum spirale by Retzius. The genus was described by Friedrich Ernst Ludwig von Fischer in 1828. However, the scientific classification of Cryptocoryne species is very complicated and there are different opinions about it. Lagenandra is another genus closely related to the genus Cryptocoryne. The two can be easily told apart since the leaves of Cryptocoryne species exhibit convolute vernation whereas Lagenandra species exhibit involute vernation.

The name Cryptocoryne is derived from the Greek crypto, hidden, and koryne, meaning club. The common name (water trumpet) refers to the shape of its inflorescence, which is typical of the Araceae family.

Inflorescence of C. pontederiifolia

C. wendtii "Green", the most popular Cryptocoryne

A form of C. wendtii produced by Tropica Aquarium Plants

Cultivation and uses

Some Cryptocoryne are popular commercially cultivated aquarium plants. Submerged plants reproduce vegetatively, emerse plants may flower and reproduce sexually. Many species are cultivated only by dedicated experts and are very hard to grow, or are not present in a culture at all. Some species are endangered because their natural habitats are disappearing. On the other hand, some water trumpets (e.g. Cryptocoryne beckettii) are very hardy aquarium plants, easy to grow to the point that they have become an invasive species after being introduced in Florida in North America.[2]

Cryptocoryne is either found in peat bogs or on limestone; the latter do well in most aquaria, the former must have soft water to survive and need decomposing beech leaf litter to do well. C. striolata, while found primarily in peat bogs, has also been found growing on limestone. Borneo is home to many endemic crypts previously thought to grow only in tea-colored soft acid water emulating peat bogs but exploration of habitats from 2005 to 2010 showed about half grew on limestone as well. These hardwater Cryptocorynes are generally the easier ones to keep (in fact, some species, such as Cryptocoryne wendtii are said to be among the most versatile of aquarium plants); they tolerate low or bright light but grow faster in more intense light. This water plant's range is around 12 to 33 °C, and slightly alkaline to neutral pH.

Plants of the genus Cryptocoryne, which range from India to New Guinea are found in very diverse conditions. Some are true acid loving plants such as C. pallidnerva, found in peat bogs in Borneo, while others such as C. crispatula var. balansae and C. pontiderifolia are found in streams with limestone beds—hard alkaline water. One species, C. ciliata is even found in semi-brackish water in some areas. It is one of the few aquarium plants that tolerates salt concentrations.

Cryptocoryne plants have been in cultivation in the aquarium hobby since the late 18th century, although it was not until the 1960s that more than a handful of species was known and became more common in the hobby. New species still regularly crop up as interest in these plants widens and more collecting expeditions by private parties are carried out.
Crypt melt

A phenomenon often encountered when planting new crypts in an aquarium is commonly called Crypt melt, whereby the plant loses all its leaves.[3] There seem to be two possible causes for this.

Rapid environmental changes is thought to trigger this, as these plants do not seem to adapt well to transplantion, and may need 30 days or so to become established and for the leaves to regrow. Experienced growers report that it is better to plant crypts in aquariums that have been established for at least three months .

In the wild, crypts can grow fully submerged underwater, but in some plant nurseries they are often grown emersed and crypt melt could then be triggered by the change from emerse to submerse conditions.

There is lately a trend for such nurseries to send crypts as just a rootstock (i.e. without the leaves) to reduce shipping costs and because the leaves will be lost anyway once planted in an aquarium.

Other reports[4] emphasise the need to change the aquarium water regularly to prevent the buildup of nitrates which are thought to trigger this condition (often referred to as a disease).
Species[1]

Cryptocoryne affinis N.E.Br. in J.D.Hooker - Thailand, Malaysia
Cryptocoryne alba de Wit - Sri Lanka
Cryptocoryne albida R.Parker - southern China, eastern India, Bangladesh, Indochina
Cryptocoryne annamica Serebryanyi - Vietnam
Cryptocoryne aponogetifolia Merr. - Philippines
Cryptocoryne aura - West kalimantan
Cryptocoryne auriculata Engl. - Sarawak, Philippines
Cryptocoryne bangkaensis Bastm. - Sumatra
Cryptocoryne beckettii Thuill. ex Trim. - Sri Lanka; naturalized in Texas
Cryptocoryne bogneri Rataj - Sri Lanka
Cryptocoryne bullosa Becc. - Sarawak
Cryptocoryne ciliata (Roxb.) Schott - India, Bangladesh, Indochina, Malaysia, Indonesia, New Guinea, Philippines
Cryptocoryne cognata Schott - India
Cryptocoryne consobrina Schott - India
Cryptocoryne cordata var. brunneus Yosuke Kobayashi. - Central Kalimantan, South Kalimantan
Cryptocoryne cordata var. cordata Griff. - Malaysia
Cryptocoryne cordata var. siamensis Griff. - Thai
Cryptocoryne cordata var. diderici Griff. - Sumatra
Cryptocoryne cordata var. natunensis Yosuke Kobayashi. - Natuna Island
Cryptocoryne cordata var. grandis Ridl. - Northeast Borneo
Cryptocoryne cordata var. grabowskii Engl. - South Kalimantan
Cryptocoryne cordata var. zonata de Wit. - Sri Aman
Cryptocoryne coronata Bastm. & Wijng. - Philippines
Cryptocoryne crispatula var. crispatula Engl. - Southeast Asia
Cryptocoryne crispatula var. alba Yosuke Kobayashi. - Thai, Laos
Cryptocoryne cruddasiana Prain - Myanmar
Cryptocoryne decus-silvae de Wit - Johor
Cryptocoryne dewitii'' N.Jacobsen - Papua New Guinea
Cryptocoryne purpurea nothovar. edithiae de Wit - South Kalimantan
Cryptocoryne elliptica N.E.Br. - Malaysia
Cryptocoryne ferruginea Engl. - Sarawak
Cryptocoryne fusca de Wit - Borneo
Cryptocoryne griffithii Schott - Kalimantan, Peninsular Malaysia
Cryptocoryne hudoroi Bogner & N.Jacobsen - Kalimantan
Cryptocoryne huluensis Yosuke Kobayashi - West Kalimantan
Cryptocoryne ideii Budianto - Kalimantan
Cryptocoryne jacobsenii de Wit - Sumatra
Cryptocoryne joshanii Naive & Villanueva - Philippines
Cryptocoryne keei N.Jacobsen - Sarawak
Cryptocoryne lingua Becc. ex Engl - Sarawak
Cryptocoryne loeiensis Bastm., T.Idei & N.Jacobsen - Laos, Thailand
Cryptocoryne longicaudaBecc. ex Engl. - Borneo, Malaysia, Sumatra
Cryptocoryne mekongensis T.Idei, Bastm. & N.Jacobsen - Cambodia, Laos, Thailand
Cryptocoryne minima Ridl. - Malaysia, Sumatra
Cryptocoryne moehlmannii de Wit - Sumatra
Cryptocoryne nevillii Trimen - Sri Lanka
Cryptocoryne noritoi Wongso - Kalimantan
Cryptocoryne nurii var. nurii Furtado - Peninsular Malaysia
Cryptocoryne nurii var. raubensis N.Jacobsen - Peninsular Malaysia
Cryptocoryne pallidinervia Engl. - Borneo
Cryptocoryne parva de Wit- Sri Lanka
Cryptocoryne pontederiifolia Schott - Sumatra
Cryptocoryne purpurea nothovar. purpurea Ridl. - Peninsular Malaysia
Cryptocoryne purpurea nothovar. sarawakensis Yosuke Kobayashi. - sarawak
Cryptocoryne purpurea nothovar. borneoensis N.Jacobsen , Bastm. - Central Kalimantan
Cryptocoryne pygmaea Merr. - Philippines
Cryptocoryne retrospiralis (Roxb.) Kunth - Bangladesh, India, Myanmar
Cryptocoryne schulzei de Wit - Johor
Cryptocoryne scurrilis de Wit - Sumatra
Cryptocoryne sivadasanii Bogner - southern India
Cryptocoryne spiralis (Retz.) Fisch. ex Wydler - Bangladesh, India
Cryptocoryne striolata Engl. - Borneo
Cryptocoryne thwaitesii Schott - Sri Lanka
Cryptocoryne timahensis Bastm. - Singapore (C. cordata × C. nurii)
Cryptocoryne uenoi Yuji Sasaki - Sarawak
Cryptocoryne undulata Wendt - Sri Lanka
Cryptocoryne usteriana Engl. - Philippines
Cryptocoryne versteegii Engl. - New Guinea
Cryptocoryne vietnamensis I.Hertel & H.Mühlberg - Vietnam
Cryptocoryne villosa N.Jacobsen - Sumatra
Cryptocoryne walkeri Schott - Sri Lanka
Cryptocoryne wendtii de Wit - Sri Lanka
Cryptocoryne × willisii Reitz - Sri Lanka (C. parva × C. walkeri)
Cryptocoryne yujii Bastm. - Sarawak
Cryptocoryne zaidiana Ipor & Tawan - Sarawak
Cryptocoryne zukalii Rataj - Peninsular Malaysia

References

Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
"Nonnative Invasive Species in Southern Forest and Grassland Ecosystems". Invasive.org. Retrieved 2020-06-13.
Cryptocoryne affinis leaf drop
"Howto cultivate Crypts". Archived from the original on 2007-10-16. Retrieved 2007-10-18.