# Yellow Cabomba vs. Cabomba Carolinia



## spdskr (Nov 14, 2005)

Many publications list yellow cabomba as Cabomba aquatica and green cabomba as Cabomba carolinia. C. aquatica grows in the tropics of the Americas and is reputed to be a more difficult species than C. carolinia which grows in temperate areas. Most websites I have found do not list discriptions of aquatica or sell it. I have it in one of my tanks and would agree that it is not an easy plant.


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## bereninga (Mar 18, 2006)

The trouble I have w/ my cabomba is that it's hard to keep free of debris and to keep the leaves looking fine and feathery. But they've been looking better lately and are growing pretty quickly.

I guess my question wasn't specific enough. I'd like to know how to tell the difference visually. Sorry for the vagueness. Maybe posting a picture would be better to determine if this is cabomba caroliniana or cabomba aquatica.


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## spdskr (Nov 14, 2005)

I have been uable to find any meristic data links to send you regarding differences between the two species leaves. Web sources only mention the differences between flower color, with C. aquatica having yellow flowers and C. caroliniana having white flowers. I will check in my plant ID book tonight when I get home if no one reponds here sooner. The plants in your photos do not look exactly like my aquatica, but also do not look as dark as the caroliniana I have seen either  .


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## spdskr (Nov 14, 2005)

So here is what I found in my favorite aquarium plant/fish book. C. aquatica leaves are made up of 150-200 segments only some 0.4mm wide, with no veins or other markings. The leaves are a light green color. Flowers are yellow. C. caroliniana has both delicate and coarse leaved varieties with 80-150 leaflets 0.4-1mm wide and 20-60 leaflets 1-1.8mm wide respectively. Leaflets are wider at the tip than at the bottom, have no destinctive veins and often bear some reddish spots or lines. Flowers are white with a yellow center. Some C. caroliniana varieties have leaves with green upper sides and silvery under sides. (van Ramshorst, J. D., 1978. Aquarium Encyclopedia of Tropical Freshwater Fish. HP Books, Inc.)

I hope this helps with your ID. I'm guessing you have some type of caroliniana since it is a more variable species.


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## bereninga (Mar 18, 2006)

Thanks so much for the info, spdskr. Yeah, I tried to look for physical differences between the two species, but haven't found any other than the color of the flowers. But that info about the leaves is pretty interesting.

I can't really measure 0.4mm w/ a ruler or anything because that is really thin! It sounds like cabomba aquatica has finer and bushier leaves than caroliniana. I believe that the cabomba I have sound like the last description, with the 20-60, 1mm-1.8mm leaflets.

Just by observation though, compared to caroliniana, the kind in my tank are definitely lighter in color and have thicker leaflets.

The most definite answer would be if I can get them to flower and then see the color of the flowers. But it seems like it is difficult to get them to flower at all. How can I do this?


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## turbosaurus (Nov 19, 2005)

I think that picture is Carolina. I have had both and in my tank, but currenly only kept the aquatica. My visual experience matches what spdskr's research found. To me the aquatica looks MUCH lighter in color- its actually yellow in my tank- or at least a pale tan color, much finer leaf segments than carolina and a lot more of them. It looks like cotton candy or smoke from a short distance away- nothing like the clear definition to the carolina, Finally the aquatica didn't get leggy with large internodal spaces. YMMV


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