aponogeton flower

The oldest aponogeton crispus is flowering in my tank!

It started several weeks ago with this long, slender stalk that reaches out of the water.

Crazy to see something growing out of the tank.

I haven't seen this occur with my aponos for almost two years- it was a complete surprise.

I couldn't leave the lid of the tank open, and turns out the flower is supposed to stay emersed until it forms seed (several weeks)

So I gently moved it to trail the other direction, and come out at the gap where the filter outflow is.

you can see the stem going along the top here the other way, in this dim picture I took when the lights were going down.

I have brushed it with a feather a few times, not sure if it is sufficient to make it set seed. It would be really cool to get seed from it and grow some new ruffled swords.