Tom Barr: "Rotala blood red, nice moderate grower, unlike R. macrandra."

Heiko Muth: It's difficult with these trade names for Rotalas such as "Singapore", seemingly there are hardly referenced. E.g. here is a Rotala sp. "Singapore" shown that apparently hardly differs from the "H'Ra / Gia Lai" one: http://www.flowgrow.de/neue-und-besondere-wasserpflanzen/rotala-sp-singapore-t24525.html Maybe that isn't a true "Singapore", but how is that defined? Primary R. "Singapore" = Tom Barr's R. "Blood Red"? And how can it be distinguished from e.g. "Colorata" or Massimo Iannella's R. "Orange Juice"? etc.

Probably all these mentioned Rotalas are forms of the one species R. rotundifolia, so one needs the additional non-scientific names for the different forms. But are there publications where these forms are defined and distinguished from one another? And the environmental plasticity of the rotundifolia forms makes a distinction the more difficult. To have clear types would mean: selecting some distinct ones, and discarding all other strains...

Massimo Iannella: I think these are a only specie: Rotala rotundifolia. We have various forms, ecotype, etc., differents characters like separated population. So the Rotala rotundifolia is also the Gia Lai, Pink, Colorata, Green, Orange Juice, etc.. I grow many Rotala rotundifolia forms in emersed culture and the inflorescences are all the same: change the colour only.

Tom BarrThis Rotala Blood Red looks more like the R. mini butterfly, the stem is markedly thinner than the Rotala rotundifolia types. It's growth habit is also different, more like R. macrandra, but... much slower growing. I guess if you took the good qualities of R. macranda and the rotundifolia, you'd get something like this, maybe a cross? I got mine from Vin Kutty. It does not look like rotundifolia in either form or color. I'd gotten rid of it if it looked like that.

Vin Kutty: And my Blood Red ID was a consensus among Rotala experts from this group. When I got it, it looked very different from anything else but as it began to settle in and grow, it started to look more like a very red mini macrandra. Very similar to Type 4 but redder, slower, and smaller.