Cryptocoryne cordata Griffith var. grabowskii (Engler) N. Jacobsen

Cryptocoryne cordata var. grabowskii is a bit problematic. The plant is known from Matang near Kuching in Sarawak (and probably also from West Kalimantan) and from the region N of Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan. The pictures refer to plants from these 'classical' localities. Today many new collections are made "cordata" like plants in Kalimantan. More research is needed to solve the problem.

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

A tidal creek in the peat swamps near Matang, near Kuching, Sarawak. photo Lo	C. grabowskii growing in peat swamp of Matang. photo Lo	Spathe of C. grabowskii from Matang. photo Lo	Limb of the spathe of C. grabowskii from Matang. photo Lo
A small 'blackwater' stream in Matang with C. cordata var. grabowskii Coll. Bogner 1483 photo Bogner	The same biotope as left. Note the rather small plant with bright green leaves. Coll. Bogner 1483 photo Bogner	The limb of the spathe of a 'Matang' C. cordata var. grabowskii. It is not known if the top of the limb always is that 'dirty'. Coll. Bogner 1483 photo Bogner	Herbarium sheet of C. cordata var. grabowskii collected near Matang. Note the very long tube. Coll. Haviland 2319 herbarium Singapore
Biotope of C. cordata var. grabowskii (?) near Pelaihari, SE of Banjarmasin photo Hanrieder	Close up the emerging spathes, showing a clear yellow limb. photo Hanrieder	A bright yellow limbed C. cordata from Banjarmasin. coll. Idei B-05 photo Idei	This (cultivated) plant from Banjarmasin shows typical red dots in the throat. coll. Wongso KL0305-4 photo Bastmeijer
Ridley described Cryptocoryne grandis, he found near Kuching (Sarawak) coll. Ridley 12471 (1905)	The TYPE of C. cordata var. grabowskii. A leaf and a (damaged) spathe is all what is left in Berlin after WW2. coll. Grabowski s.n. (1881)	Drawing of C. cordata var. grabowskii (?) in de Wit (1990). Coll. Korthals, Borneo, without specific locality (L) drawing Ike Zewald	Known distribution of C. cordata var. grabowskii with a locality near Matang in Sarawak (upper left) and another near Banjarmasin in Kalimantan (down right). The W. Kalimantan spot is uncertain.

There are no records that Cryptocoryne cordata var. grabowskii is cultivated successfully. The few reports of documented plants all point to an extremely difficult to grow plant. Probably they need ver acid conditions (pH 4). There are more yellow flowering plants of the 'cordata' group found in Borneo. It is uncertain if they will match C. cordata var. grabowskii. According to Bogner (pers. comm.) the difference is that  C. cordata var. grabowskii has a rough limb of the spathe, while C. cordata var. cordata always has a smooth limb of the spathe. Its not very clear in the pictures.

See also the Cryptocoryne from Kalimantan
and the other Cryptocoryne of the  cordata-group

Jan D. Bastmeijer, updated December 2004
Literature.

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