I’ve always had a special fondness for these wonderful aquatic Aroids, the Water Trumpets, but more commonly called Crypts. My first introduction to this Genus, came about in the late 90’s.
I was Cichl-Idiot, a term I wore with pride. As an aquarist obsessed with neotropical cichlids, there weren’t many plants that would survive in my tanks. I tried many, but I loved the look of sword plants, Echinodorus species. The often very grand plants would taunt me with their large, thick ovate leaves standing on foot long stems. Surely, these would survive. After a couple weeks, the robust swords would look defeated. Leaves yellowing, with holes aplenty, disintegrated before my eyes. These plants taught me my first lesson, most aquatic plants were grown on land, and my majestic swords were no exception. Occasionally, I’d have a plant that would survive long enough to give start producing it’s aquatic leaves, but they were always tattered from the abusive omnivorous cichlids they shared their home with. Eventually, they would perish. I gave up on plants for a while.
As my cichlid obsession evolved, I had begun to keep cichlids from other parts of the world, notably West Africa. Pelvicachromis females with their ripe cherry bellies were especially interesting. I had a pair of P. kribensis who deserved their own tank away from the giants, an old 20 gallon long. This would also give me a chance to try plants again. So off to the local fish store I went. The first choices were easy, a five pack of Melanotaenia praecox and some assorted Corydoras. I was still tentative about plants, but after noticing a beautiful green and brown lanceolate leaved plant, I figured I’d try. The plant was sold as Cryptocoryne wendtii ‘Bronze”. I buried the pot in the gravel and started counting the days until it died. But it didn’t, it survived and filled the pot in the coming months. I could grow an aquatic plant! I unpotted the robust growth, separated the daughter plants, and stuck them in the gravel. They prospered until I graduated high school and tore all but one tank down due to dorm room restrictions. The C. wendtii didn’t make the cut.
Fifteen years later, my aquarium hobby had made a typical evolution to marine, specifically corals. I was much too good for the “novice freshwater” hobby, but a roommate had brought home a lone Pacific Tree Frog, Pseudacris regilla, from the woods nearby. To accommodate the little frog, a riptarium was setup in the garage.
I began bringing home scraps of plants from the pet store I worked at. These recovered and grew to create a little jungle. A few years later, in the winter of 2015, disaster struck! The entire city was without power and it was below freezing. I lost everything! After ten days without power, I had a bunch of empty, running tanks. As I finally got to the garage tank for cleaning, I noticed a tiny bit of green still showing through all the decomposed plants. It was a Cryptocoryne (and a tiny bit of java moss)! Someone had survived almost two weeks of below freezing temperatures! I reset the tank and watched as the plant slowly regained life.
I had never given the plant more than a passing look. Looking back through the thousands of pictures I took, it only appears in a few.
With so little to look at, my curiosity grew around this plant. I began to wonder what species it was. As I began my feverish google searches, it became apparent that Cryptocorynes were masters of disguise. Even my lone Cryptocoryne was beginning to look different as the days passed. Maybe it was the quest to find an identity, or the vast assortment that laid before my eyes online, but whatever the cause, I was hooked. I literally DREAMED of Cryptocorynes!
Despite the need to for flowers to identify Cryptocorynes 100%, I was able to give my little plant a name, Cryptocoryne x willisii var. Lucens, due to its short, thick growth, an ascending rhizome, and a rusty brown edging to the leaf.
The Cryptkeeper 