A resource for African biotopes

The ecosystem and country search facility of Fishbase (www.fishbase.org) provides a fantastic starting point for identifying combinations of fish for biotope aquariums that I think many experienced aquarists are familiar with.

Identifying aquatic plants that are native to the same areas is much harder and seems to rely on hearsay on online aquarium forums as much as anything else. I just came across a great resource from the Senckenberg Museum in Frankfurt that lists aquatic plants in different parts of Africa as part of a wider guide to African plants. To filter for aquatic plants, you need to hit ‘Browse and Search’, scroll down to ‘Life Form’ under the heading ‘Habit’ and select ‘Hydrophyte’ (or ‘Halophyte’ if you are looking for brackish water or coastal species). Also helpful to untick the ‘Only search for species with pictures’ to get a fuller list. Not sure how complete the database is but provides a great starting point.

You can access the guide at http://www.westafricanplants.senckenberg.de/. You can also search for East Africa, Central Africa and Africa as a whole through the links on the homepage.

Succulents and geometry

The beauty of succulent plants is, for me, in their shape and texture. I really like displays where this is accentuated by planting in pots with their own geometric and/or textural interest or where the plants are grouped to created repeated forms and patterns. Retail displays of smaller succulents lined up in individual small pots often do this well and look great compared to more random groupings.

Hydnophytum antplants

Hydnophytum is one of a range of  plants that have evolved symbiotic relationships with ants. Hydnophytum are tropical epiphytes that provide shelter and protection for ant colonies in the forest canopy in a series of tunnels and chambers in the swollen stem (known as a caudex). In return the ants provide the plant with some defense against herbivores and with nutrients via special glands in the walls of the tunnels. You can see the holes in the caudex that provide access for the ants in the pictures below. There are 55 species, according to the most recent revision, found in South East Asia, the Pacific and Queensland.

The plants themselves are not particularly attractive but I really like the display possibilities that the epiphytic habit allows, in particular the contrast between the random, swollen caudex of the plant and a simple, elegant low profile mount or base. They apparently do fine in cultivation without their ant friends. I’ve actually not found any mentioned of keeping them with ants – could be a fun thing to try in a suitable enclosure if you anyone imports the right sort of ant.

Growing lithophytes on concrete

Australian artist Jamie North (www.jamienorth.com) grows native lithophytic plants on rough, broken concrete pillars, creating some really powerful work. It is easy to see interesting applications of this in the garden or for indoor plant displays, and the combination of polished and rough poured concrete or plaster surfaces could work in a terrarium or vivarium at a different scale. There are a number of tutorials for DIY concrete planters online, but creating the broken surfaces may require a bit of experimentation…

Sarracenia terrariums

Some great displays growing North American Sarracenia pitcher plants in tall narrow enclosures.  The first two, taller examples are almost perfect and much more effective for me than the wider one. Letting them grow to be a bit crowded also seems to complete the look nicely. Love the combination in the first with the grass-like plant, which might be Juncus effusus ‘Spiralis’, and the pink-flowered Pinguicula.

Tepui plants

The tops of the table mountains or tepui in the south east of Venezuela and northern Brazil have a unique flora and fauna that has developed as a result of their physical and climatic isolation. The hummocks that develop in wet areas would make a great model for a naturalistic terrarium project. I love the combination of water, wind-carved dark rocks and the red, silvery green and bright green of the plants. These include a variety of carnivorous plants, including Heliamphora pitcher plants, Drosera sundews, lithophytic and commensal Utricularia bladderworts (growing in pitchers and bromeliad tanks), and bromeliads (including Brochinnia, Catopsis and Tillandsia) that have some commercial availability. Beyond this, the plants are a bit obscure, but include grasses, orchids and some odd Ericaceae. I will need to do a bit more research.

The botanical art of Makoto Azuma

I see some great inspiration for terrarium and vivarium keepers from the work of ‘botanical artist’ Makoto Azuma (www.azumamakoto.com). I’m not sure many of us will want to freeze our prized plants or shoot them into space, but her caged and suspended epiphyte exhibits perhaps suggest a direction for modernist tree frog vivs and her stark minimalistic terrariums a way to focus attention on underappreciated individual plants in our collections.

All images are ©AMKK