Cryptocoryne sp. 'Lingga 6' downstream

Since our crazy encounter in the previous stream where C. sp 'Lingga 7, 8 and 22' could be found growing in harmony within such a short stretch of one same stream, we decided to explore the downstream of the stream where C. sp. 'Lingga 6' was found.

We trekked a few hundred meters into the secondary forest along the stream and found many patches of cryptocoryne which had much greener leaves than C. sp. 'Lingga 6'.

Unfortunately, we were not able to locate any specimens with attached spathes at all to further determine how closely these cryptocorynes were related.

Overall, I felt that Pulau (meaning island) Lingga is really a crazy place with numerous variations in the cryptocorynes found there.

Cryptocoryne sp. 'Lingga 6'

I had posted something about the spathes of C. sp. 'Lingga 6' which my explorer friend found previously. The spathe was yellowish in colour with a deep reddish throat.

This time round, I had a chance to visit the natural habitat. The stream was probably an old man made stream with sandy base. The water level was not too high and the pH of the water was about 5.0.

We found some specimens with fruit as well as unopened spathes. The leaves were brownish green in colour with slightly reddish undersides.

We found out that one of the spathes had opened while we were on our way back at Tanjong Pinang ferry terminal on Bintan Island. Below are some photographs of this spathe.

Cryptocoryne sp. 'Lingga 21'

In this same stream where C. sp. 'Lingga 7' and C. sp. 'Lingga 8' were found. We found another patch of cryptocoryne further upstream which looked rather different in terms of the colour of the leaves.

As we could not ascertain whether they are the same as C. sp. 'Lingga 7 / 8' as no spathe was found, my explorer friend decided to term it as C. sp. 'Lingga 21' first until we are able to determine the species identity in the future. Below are some photographs of a few specimens collected.

Cryptocoryne sp. 'Lingga 8'

In the same stream where C. sp. 'Lingga 7' was found, my explorer friend found another patch of cryptocoryne just metres away which he termed as C. sp. 'Lingga 8'.

C. sp. 'Lingga 8' was different in terms of its leaves which were totally green both on the upper and under sides, and had reddish limb instead of yellowish one, see his blog for the photographs of the spathes.

Due to the high water level, we could only find some spathes which were not opened. One of the specimen had an attached fruit too.

Cryptocoryne sp. 'Lingga 7 - red line'

I visited the natural habitat of C. sp. 'Lingga 7' next. In this stream my explorer friend found 3 different "types" of cryptocoryne staying very close together to one another, I will post about the other 2 types later.

C. sp. 'Lingga 7' leaves had distinct red main vein and had spathe with yellowish limb and reddish throat, see his blog for the photographs of the spathe. My friend termed it as "red line". They were growing submersed in a sandy stream with water pH of about 5.0. They were many harlequin rasboras in the stream.

We found an unopened spathe which unfortunately did not bloom before melting away.

Cryptocoryne sp. 'Lingga 22'

Along the stream banks where we found C. sp. 'Lingga 19 - Platinum Line', we found emersed cryptocorynes growing which did not had any 'Platinum' coloured veins.

The leaves were greenish both on the upper and under sides. We managed to find an opened spathe, the spathe was rather small. The limb of the spathe was reddish in colour with protuberances attached. It had a reddish throat too.

We cut open the spathe when we were back in the hotel to photograph the interior.

As we could not confirm that it was the same as C. sp. 'Lingga 19 - Platinum Line', my explorer friend decided to first term it as C. sp. 'Lingga 22'.