The 1950's Shirley Aquatics "Giant Red Crypt"
Some sort of Cryptocoryne cordata (Sold as "C. grandis")
Note that "Shirley" is not a women, it's a place in England. "Shirley Aquatics" is a pet shop.
Addenda to the articles published in TFH in 2009 & 2010.

...but there is no Cryptocoryne grandis. If you were to run an Internet search on it you would find it barely exists. But it existed in the 1950's when they were sold through a prominent shop in Shirley, England and quickly became extinct in the hobby for all intents and purposes. Save for one lone tank, in of all places, Canada and of all places, the town I grew up in as a kid. These are my chronicles of the history and origins of this mysterious giant red Cryptocoryne from the deepest jungles of Borneo.

This is the plant that Charlie Drew obtained from Shirley Aquatics and has maintained in Canada since 1950. Other than vague reports of "Kalimantan" there was really no good idea where it was from.

We know there were exportations of a giant red form of cordata from Kalimatan around 1950 and these plants, still cultivated today, bear a striking resmblance to these plants that were photographed in 2012 near Dayu, Central Borneo, Kalimatan by nature T.S. Wang, aka 'Illumbomb':


More photos:

Copyright 2022
Richard J. Sexton