Cryptocoryne alba de Wit

Cryptocoryne alba is known from only a few documented localities in Sri Lanka. Most exporters of aquatic plants wisely keep their localities secret. At any rate there is an amazing variation in both the inflorescences and the leaves. The name 'alba', what means white, approved to be not a good choice, we will have to live with.

^{Click on the picture to get the full image (ca 50 k)}

When de Wit (1975) described Cryptocoryne alba, he had a plant like this one. (see also the drawing below) Hermsen (1977) gives some more detail about this original plant. Note the slight twisted limb of the spathe. photo Bastmeijer	This C. alba has bright green leaves, without any purple. Often the leaves have a fine undulated margin. The are forms which have dark transverse stripes and there are brown forms, all having a pure white limb of the spathe. photo Bastmeijer	The same plant as pictured at left. The limb is wide open. There is somewhat like a thickened collarzone. The limb has opened to nearly the end, so you cannot speak about a 'tail', as is more usual in this species. photo Bastmeijer	This specimen has a left turn of the spathe (this is rather common) and has a unusual opening of the limb. photo Bastmeijer
A brown leafed C. alba. The spathe is a bit yellowish on the outside. photo Bastmeijer	A green marmorated leave and a distinct rose colored limb of the spathe. photo Bastmeijer	Even red colored limbs are seen in C. alba. photo Jacobsen	Dark brown leaves. This one flowers with a white limb. photo Bastmeijer
Look at the constriction of the kettlewall at 2/3 height. photo Bastmeijer	Note the alveoli (depressions in the wall) opposite the male flowers. photo Bastmeijer	The distinct yellow valve makes this feature not for use in C. alba. photo Bastmeijer	Note the vertical grooves in the lower part of the kettle. photo Bastmeijer
Habitat of a new form of C. alba. Fredi Waser from Switzerland collected new plants in the South of Sri Lanka. They grew fully exposed. The leaves are green without any spur of purple. photo Waser	The emersed culture is quite easy. This plant don't make runners, the rhizome divides in several branches, making a very compact cluster of plants (like in Lagenandra). The ruler displays cm. photo Bastmeijer	This C. alba has a deep red, warty limb of the spathe. The limb ends up with a long tail. The inflorescences are hardly to see between the petioles of a full grown plant (see picture at left). photo Bastmeijer	The most surprising in this new C. alba is the pronounced collar. The current opinion is that it nevertheless must be regarded as a C. alba. photo Bastmeijer
Another picture of the habitat of the 'collared' C. alba. photo Waser	A not flowering plant of C. alba. This plant might flower with a white, red or rose limb.	Drawing of Ike Zewald (de Wit 1990) of the type specimen of C. alba. Compare it with the picture top left.	Known distribution of C.alba and C. thwaitesii in Sri Lanka. The 'new' C.alba is not drawn.

In the group Cryptocoryne alba, C. thwaitesii and C. bogneri, C. alba certainly is the most easy to grow Crypt. It requires rather acid conditions. A mixture of beach tree soil with powdered clay together with gravel will probably do. All of them are of no importance for aquarists, for its impossible to keep them alive in a fishtank. Even very experienced growers have a lot of difficulties growing these plants emersed. The habitats in the Southern part of Sri Lanka are threatened..
An interesting question is whether or not one can distinguish between C. alba and C. thwaitesii. The latter has a tube of a few cm and often has pronounced red spots on the limb. And there are differences in the the texture of the leaves.

Jan D.Bastmeijer, March 1998

Literature:

Arends, J.C., Bastmeijer, J.D. & Jacobsen, N., 1982, Chromosome numbers and taxonomy in Cryptocoryne (Araceae).II., Nord.J.Bot. 2 : 453-463.
Bastmeijer, J.D., C. Christensen & N. Jacobsen, 1984, Cryptocoryne alba und ihre Variationsbreite, Aqua-Planta 1-84 : 18-22.
Bastmeijer, J.D. & C. Kettner, 1993, Die Cryptocorynen von Yahalawatta (Sri Lanka), Aqua-Planta 1-93 : 30-31.
Graaf, A. de & Arends, J.C., 1986, The occurrence of Cryptocoryne and Lagenandra (Araceae) on Sri Lanka, Nord.J.Bot. 6 : 757-764.
Hermsen, E.P., 1977, Cryptocorynen, Het Aquarium 47(11) : 282-287.
Jacobsen, N., 1976, Notes on Cryptocoryne of Sri Lanka (Ceylon), Bot.Notiser 129 : 179-190.
Jacobsen, N., 1977, Chromosome numbers and taxonomy in Cryptocoryne (Araceae), Bot.Notiser 130 : 71-87.
Jacobsen, N., 1982, Cryptocorynen, Alfred Kernen Verlag, Stuttgart.
Jacobsen, N., 1987, Cryptocoryne, in: A Revised Handbook to the Flora of Ceylon, Vol. VI: 85-99.
Kasselmann, C., 1995, Aquarienpflanzen, Ulmer, Stuttgart.
Möhlmann, F., 1987, Der Weisse Wasserkelch, Aquarien Magazin 21(11) : 436-438.
Möhlmann, F., 1993, Die Cryptocoryne-Arten Ceylons (1), Aqua-Planta 4-93 : 123-128.
Wit, H.C.D. de, 1975, Cryptocoryne alba de Wit (nov.sp.) en Cryptocoryne bogneri de Wit (nov.sp.), Het Aquarium 45(12) : 326-327.
Wit, H.C.D. de, 1990, Aquarienpflanzen, 2. Auflage, Ulmer, Stuttgart.