Cryptocoryne longicauda Engler

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A habitat of C. longicauda in Johore. photo Jacobsen	C. longicauda from Sarawak. Picture of the habitat near Gua Sukat. Note the upright tail of the spathe. Collection NJ 78-22. photo Jacobsen	A ditch on a Durian plantage in southern Johore (Malaysia) where C. longicauda grows as a weed. photo Bastmeijer	For irrigation, the ditch is cleaned and hundreds of  plants are drying out on the bank. Eu Kwee Hwang from Oriental Aquarium searching for fruits. photo Bastmeijer
Several leaf forms of C. longicauda collected in a small area. photo Jacobsen	In cultivation the leaves are slight bullate. Adult plants show a fine undulated margin of the leave. Unknown collection. photo Bastmeijer	A closer look at the leave margin. The tissue is membranous thin.This is only seen in C. longicauda. Collection Bogner 1511 from Johore. photo Bastmeijer	About one day after the spathe opens, the limb may bent down. Unknown collection. photo van Wijngaarden
Mostly the limb of the spathe forms a perfect half sphere. There is a pronounced collar. Collection Bogner 1511 from Johore. photo Bastmeijer	Sometimes the limb opens more widely. The color of the limb is mostly dark red, but as seen here rather bright. Collection NJ 85-24 from Sumatra (Djambi). photo Bastmeijer	A rather dark limb of the spathe. Note the irregular collar. photo Bastmeijer	A length section of the upper part of the tube and the collar. photo Bastmeijer
An unopened but of the inflorescence of C. longicauda. photo Bastmeijer	Length section of the lower part of the tube, the 'kettle'. photo Bastmeijer	Female flowers of C. longicauda. Note the styles bend down, as normal after a few days. photo Bastmeijer	C. longicauda collection Ridley 3721 from Johore, Malaysia. herbarium Singapore
Drawing of a cultivated C. longicauda ( de Wit, 1958, 1961 as C. johorensis). In that time C. fusca was interpreted as C. longicauda. drawing Ike Zewald	The drawing of the type material of C. caudata N.E.Brown from Sarawak (de Wit 1990), with closed limb of the spathe. drawing Ike Zewald	Distibution of C. longicauda in Malaysia and Sumatra	Distibution of C. longicauda in Borneo

Cryptocoryne longicauda ("with the long tail") was collected by Odoardo Beccari in Sarawak and described by Engler in 1879. One year later, in 1880, N.E.Brown described C. caudata from Sarawak with deep bullate leaves and much later, 1920, Engler described C. johorensis from Johore (W.Malaysia) which are all regarded now to be synonyms of this species (Jacobsen 1982, 1985). Beccari only made a poor drawing of the inflorescence of C. longicauda, so the confusion is understandable. Around 1970 this species was also collected from Sumatra, so the distribution of this species is quite broad.
To make things completely crazy, around 1950 a new plant form Borneo was imported which resembled C. longicauda. In the Dutch and German literature until 1970 a couple of articles appeared on this species. This plant proved to be C. fusca (Bastmeijer & Bouwmeester 1990).

Cryptocoryne longicauda is quite easy to cultivate emerged under standard conditions. Submersed the cultivation of this species is rather difficult on the long term.
The inflorescense is rather unique. Only the tail reachs up to 20 cm! Plants with the deep bullate leaves as seen in the type material for C. caudata are never seen again. Perhaps it is a local form, variations of this kind are also seen in C. minima.
Cultivated plants of C. longicauda are rather common in the Western Europe.

Jan D.Bastmeijer, Updated Januari 2002

Literature:
Bastmeijer, J.D. & B.H.Bouwmeester, 1990. Cryptocoryne fusca, Het Aquarium 60(10) : 267-272.
Bastmeijer, J.D., 1993. Das Pflanzenportrat: Cryptocoryne fusca De Wit, Aqua-Planta 3-93 : 108-113.
Brown, N.E., 1880. On some new Aroideae, J.Linn.Soc.XVIII : 242-245, plate IV.
Bruggen, H.W.E.van, 1958. Ervaringen met Cryptocoryne johorensis, Het Aquarium 28(9) : 206-207.
Engler, A., 1879. Cryptocoryne Fischer, Bull.Soc.Tosc.Ortic. 4 : 301-302.
Engler, A., 1882. Aracee della Malesia e della Papuasia raccolte da O.Beccari, in O.Beccari, Malesia 1 : 296-300, Abb. 27-28.
Engler, A., 1920. (Cryptocoryne, Lagenandra in), Das Pflanzenreich IV.23.F. Araceae - Aroideae : 232-249, Leipzig.
Jacobsen, N., 1982. Cryptocorynen,Cryptocorynen, Alfred Kernen Verlag, Stuttgart.
Jacobsen, N., 1985. The Cryptocoryne (Araceae) of Borneo, Nord.J.Bot. 5 : 31-50.
Jacobsen, N., 1986. Deterioration of the habitats of the Cryptocoryne species, Symp.Bedreiging van het aquatisch milieu, Ludwigia, Wageningen : 33 (see the lecture on the botanical page).
Merrill, E.D., 1921. A Bibliographic Enumeration of Bornean Plants, Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society : 106-109.
Paffrath, K., 1974. Cryptocoryne longicauda und Cryptocoryne tortilis, DATZ 27 : 90-92.
Ridley, H.N., 1905. The Aroids of Borneo,J.Str.Br.Roy.As.Soc. 44 : 169-171.
Ridley, H.N., 1925. Cryptocoryne,Fl. Malay Pen. 5 : 86-88.
Schulze, J., 1971. Cryptocorynen aus Sarawak I-IV, DATZ 24 : 230-233, 267-270, 303-306, 336-339.
Wit, H.C.D.de, 1958. Cryptocoryne johorensis Engler. Het Aquarium 28 : 204-206.
Wit, H.C.D.de, 1961.Het genus Cryptocoryne (18), C. huegelii Schott, C.johorensis Engler. Het Aquarium 32 : 26-28.
Wit, H.C.D.de, 1990. Aquarienpflanzen, 2. Auflage,Ulmer, Stuttgart.