# pearl weed/baby tears confusion



## isonychia (Nov 19, 2013)

Hi, just hoping someone can clarify something for me.

I am trying to create a carpeting plant in my low tech tank.

I'm new to all this so bear with me.

I thought I knew the differences between the baby tears, but now I'm not sure.

I stayed away from the dwarf variety as I don't have CO2.

In the pic are 2 plants.







What are plants A & B?

I'm thinking plant B is not the carpeting large baby tears but pearlweed as it has pointy leaves not round. Thus I'm thinking I will just get large bushes out of this. It was marked as Micranthemum Micranthemoides. Synonyms: (Hemianthus Glomeratus , Micranthemum glomeratum) I thought it was the right low carpeting baby tears.

I don't know what A is but I bought it at a local FS and it's on a pad of roots/soil with wire in it.

Before I let this stuff HOPEFULLY grow, I want to make sure I got the right stuff and thus the hopeful carpeting effect. Otherwise I will end up with tall bushes. Not necessarily bad, but I want to plan accordingly with placement etc.

I read about all the confusion between common names/extinct species/names changes etc.

I guess I still got it wrong.

Thanks,
iso


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## Zorfox (Jun 24, 2012)

isonychia said:


> What are plants A & B?


A looks like a Hydrocotyle possibly Hydrocotyle sibthorpioides or dwarf pennywort. I pretty sure it will carpet under high light. However, I've never grown any pennyworts.

B is certainly pearlweed. In fact, it is amano pearlweed since there are single opposing leaves rather than 3-4. It really doesn't carpet well unless you have a layer 3-4 inches deep. It's better suited for bushes or small low patches IMO. I have grown this quite a bit. 



isonychia said:


> I'm thinking plant B is not the carpeting large baby tears but pearlweed


Correct. The carpeting type is HC (cuba), Hemianthus callitrichoides.


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## Takeshi (Aug 24, 2013)

I've trimmed plant B for months now and it was grown under sort of "high light" and it finally carpeted for me. I think the best low light carpeting plant would be anything from the Marsilea family (Hirsuta, Quadrifolia...) and also Echinodorus Tenellus.


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## isonychia (Nov 19, 2013)

Thank guys.

So there is dwarf baby tears: Hemianthus callitrichoides

Regular baby tears: Hemianthus micranthemoides, aka pearlweed. So pearlweed is an accepted common name for regular baby tears??

Large/jumbo Baby tears: Not sure of name.

According to this thread
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=145450

and this link: http://www.aquascapingworld.com/plantpedia/full_view_plant.php?item_id=102

the REGULAR baby tears are Hemianthus micranthemoides and they look like the plant that I have. So I guess I got the right plant, it's just not ideal or always possible to get it to carpet low.

I guess I thought it would look like the dwarf variety but just bigger.

Since I planted this in individual stems, (at least tried) I guess I will leave it and see what happens.

iso.


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## Zorfox (Jun 24, 2012)

isonychia said:


> Thank guys.
> 
> So there is dwarf baby tears: Hemianthus callitrichoides
> 
> ...


That's basically correct. Although, I would call Hemianthus micranthemoides Hemianthus Glomeratus instead. The naming convention is wildly debatable though. Unfortunatley, the terms Hemianthus and Micranthemum are used interchangeably leading to a lot of confusion. In fact, they are NOT the same...

_"Hemianthus is considered by some authorities as a synonym of Micranthemum, and Hemianthus is sometimes used in the aquarium trade. A fundamental difference between Hemianthus and Micranthemum is the corolla tube lobes; Hemianthus has a one-lipped corolla tube with adaxial lobes absent and a three lobed abaxial lip, while Micranthemum has a two-lipped corolla tube with 3 adaxial lobes and two abaxial lobes united, appearing as one lobe."_ 
source, http://idtools.org/id/aquariumplant...Plants/Media/Html/Fact_sheets/hemianthus.html

The large or jumbo baby tears would be Micranthemum umbrosum.


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## Raymond S. (Dec 29, 2012)

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/pGallery.php?do=viewuser&uid=58850

P.S. See next post for details.


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## Raymond S. (Dec 29, 2012)

98% sure the first one is Dwarf Pennywart. It will carpet but may not be as dense as you might think a carpet "should be".
Then too I think that depends on how long it's there.
I'm also sitting here shaking my head as you've made me doubt what I have also. I bought a plant"bunch" without a name
tag and late in their day so no one to identify it. Later after looking at photos on-line I decide it to be a Micranthemum Micranthemoides
but now... well they do grow differently according to light etc. Want proof ? I just up-loaded two pictures into my gallery that are both
the same plant. I just changed the substrate in one pix but the baby tears is out of the water in it. The other pix has the same plant
but it is planted in the bottom. Look at the shape of the leaves on each. First two pix. Second pix has plant both at top and bottom/same plant. BTW that is two tanks. Both tenG.
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/pGallery.php?do=myGallery
I do believe this will carpet, but needs a lot of time to do so and lots of trimming. The more you trim, the more sprouts that come from the bottom parts which are left after you trim I would let it get at least 6" tall before I trimmed it to let some roots get started good.


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## Tinanti (Aug 25, 2005)

isonychia said:


> What are plants A & B?
> 
> I'm thinking plant B is not the carpeting large baby tears but pearlweed as it has pointy leaves not round. Thus I'm thinking I will just get large bushes out of this. It was marked as Micranthemum Micranthemoides. Synonyms: (Hemianthus Glomeratus , Micranthemum glomeratum) I thought it was the right low carpeting baby tears.
> 
> ...


A is probably _Hydrocotyle sibthorpioides_, as mentioned. 

B is _Hemianthus glomeratus_. It may be labeled as _H. micranthemoides_, but those are not synonyms in the botanical sense and are actually two different species, the latter of which has not been seen alive for decades. _H. glomeratus_ was introduced under the incorrect name in about 1990, and it was only relatively recently discovered what it really is.  

There is a 'two-leaf' plant with only opposite leaves (not whorled) that is also NOT _H. micranthemoides_. May be undescribed, actually. 

As to whether _Hemianthus_ and _Micranthemum_ are one genus or two, that is something that isn't settled botanically. Nobody has really gotten to the bottom of it yet. In my humble opinion, they should be kept separate, but we will see... maybe. In the meantime, I think it best to keep using the name _Hemianthus glomeratus_. 

Don't trust that second link, as it's full of incorrect information. There are no _Hemianthus_ of any kind in South America. _Micranthemum_, yes, but not _Hemianthus_ sensu stricto (in the strict sense).
Try here instead:
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/...ails.php?id=33&category=genus&spec=Hemianthus


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## isonychia (Nov 19, 2013)

Thanks for the help guys.

I think I got it now.

iso


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