As reported at Update of the Flora and Fauna of Piccaninnie Ponds and Ewens Ponds (Including Eight Mile Creek), Chris Lukhaup from Germany recently reported having sighted a “Red Water Plant”growing in Ewens Ponds. He sent us this still from some of his video footage posted to Instagram : –
(Ammannia gracilis found in Ewens Ponds)
(Still taken from video footage by Chris Lukhaup)
Chris wanted to get in touch with somebody that could help him to ID this plant. One of my colleagues (Bill Goh) responded to my Facebook post seeking an ID. He suggested that the plant was Ammannia gracilis, an aquarium plant from Africa. I agreed and passed that on to Chris. I also told Chris that we are concerned about the occurrence of Ammannia gracilis in Ewens Ponds. I told him that we are reporting it to the authorities.
According to iNaturalist, Red Ammannia “Ammannia gracilis is a species of flowering plant in the family Lythraceae. It is native to Africa. This aquatic plant has a branching, prostrate stem that roots at the nodes. The blunt-tipped, lance-shaped leaves are roughly a centimeter long. The small flowers have four purple petals and either 4 or 8 stamens. The flowers occur in small clusters.” No observations have yet been posted to the site.
Old aerial photo of Ewens Ponds & Eight Mile Creek
(Photographer unknown)
(Chris also told me that he had also found a snail species in Ewens Ponds that he does not know about. I have not yet seen a photo that may assist with the ID of this snail. Chris later suggested that it could be Glacidorbis species. iNaturalist did not help me to find out any more about this genera. I also found that no snails are mentioned in Update of the Flora and Fauna of Piccaninnie Ponds and Ewens Ponds (Including Eight Mile Creek) at all.)