Alternanthera sessilis

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pahansen

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I've unwittingly bought what I think is either an Alternanthera sessilis or an Alternanthera sp. red round. I've seen sessilis blacklisted on at least one list. Can anyone tell me why? I know that it's sold all over the internet, but as we all know that doesn't mean that it's a good plant to use.

I'm hesitant to bother putting it into my aquarium if I'm just going to have to rip it out again. Can anyone give me some info on this plant?

Thanks!
-- Pamela
 
Okay. I've done more reading, and all I can find is that this plant (according to one person) eventually will lose its leaves when planted. But another person said that they replanted the top part of the stem, and it didn't lose those leaves. It didn't grow either, though.

If it's not going to rot in my tank, but it's also not going to grow, I can live with that. It's a pretty plant, and I don't need it to be a huge background plant. On the other hand, I don't need it to be rotting and polluting my tank. Should I plant this?

Any comments here? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?
 
Hi,

I've googled the name and came up with this info, although I don't know how correct it is. The common name is "SESSILE JOYWEED"

1. It's a marsh/pond plant but can also live above ground.
2. From the sounds of it, like you said, it doesn't grow at all in aquariums but the information found to support that was scarce.
3. It's a "US federally listed noxious weed"
4. It's a herb

My best guess of why it's blacklisted is the weed part and that it appears to be not a true aquatic plant. My info could be wrong though, I just used google and browsed a few sites.

Here's some links:

http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/31894/// this one has comments from people who have kept them at the bottom.

http://www.himalayahealthcare.com/herbfind...ternanthera.htm

http://plants.usda.gov/cgi_bin/topics.cgi?...gi&symbol=ALSE4
 
Thanks for the information. I think I'll go ahead and try to plant it and see how it goes. If it doesn't take, I guess I'll have to burn it, seeing as it's a noxious weed that seems happy to grow anywhere. Something tells me that just throwing it in the trash isn't going to kill it.

If it does root and do well, then I'll have both a pretty plant and a means of treating acne!
 

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