Horitcultural Awards Program

The Horticultural Awards Program (HAP) recognizes MAS members’ achievements in raising aquatic plants. A printed version of all of the information on this page can be downloaded here.

The purpose of the HAP

1) To encourage members of the Milwaukee Aquarium Society to:

a) Promote and encourage the keeping and captive propagation of aquatic plants.

b) Gather and disseminate information about aquatic plants, their cultivation and propagation methods.

c) Insure the availability of a variety of aquatic plant species for future generations of aquarium hobbyists.

d) Become active in the club and to expand the experience and diversity of the membership.

2) Recognize the achievements of the program participants.

Definition of an aquatic plant

An aquatic plant is a plant species, which, in the wild or natural state, can be found growing in the submerged or floating form, as a normal occurrence at sometime during the course of one complete growing season. Floating plants are considered submerged if they are not taking root in a substrate. An aquatic plant can be from fresh, brackish, or salt-water environments. Only aquatic plants are eligible. Micro algae are not eligible. Plants that are raised in an outdoor pond qualify.

General Program Rules

All rules are subject to the HAP committee interpretation. Additional requirements and information can be found throughout this pamphlet. Individual Milwaukee Aquarium Society members, participating in the HAP under a family/household membership will be tallied as a family, no individual tallies will exist. The exception will be the Junior Horticulturist level, which can be awarded to any member participating under a family/household membership age 17 and under. Points are only awarded to Milwaukee Aquarium Society members. A Milwaukee Aquarium Society member is defined as a person and/or family that has their annual dues paid in full. Propagation from any class may be applied toward the achievement of HAP levels. Any member abusing the rules and regulations of the HAP can be automatically stripped of all points and become ineligible for participation in the program for no less than 1 year. All complaints and inquiries must be addressed in writing with supporting documentation to the HAP chairperson.

Identification

It is the responsibility of the entrants to identify their own plant. The recommended sources shall be the following publications:

Books:

• Aquarium Plants by Christel Kasselmann, Krieger Publishing Company 2003
• The Aquarium Plant Handbook, Oriental Aquarium (S) Pre LTD, 2002
• Aquarium Plants: The Practical Guide by Pablo Tepoot, New Life Publications 1998 Aquarium Plants: Their Identification, Cultivation, and Ecology by Rataj and Horeman, TFH 1977

Via the Web:

(Flowgrow) All Aquatics Plants – Flowgrow Aquatic Plant Database https://www.flowgrow.de/db/aquaticplants Any plant not identified by these sources will require disclosure of what literature was cited for identification. The Committee will assign points. Hybrids will not be recognized unless at least one parents species is identified or they are a recognized cultivator, provided the identification can be verified.

Propagation

Propagation of aquatic plants can be in the form of the following:

1) Vegetative- The asexual reproduction by natural means or human intervention. This includes, but is not limited to:

a) Cuttings (from leaves, roots, stems, etc.)

b) Budding (plantlets and bulblets)

c) Division d) Runners

e) Layering

f) Micro propagation

2) Blooms- Points are earned by bringing any aquatic plant into flower. Since it is easier to encourage blooms in natural light, and is more difficult to encourage blooms in artificial light, blooms in artificial light will receive points for the next higher class. Blooms in natural light will receive points at the same level as vegetative propagation. The exception is Water Lilies of the genus Nymphaea, which will receive only 10 points for an outdoor bloom, and 20 for an indoor bloom. All other class D receives 20 points, regardless.

3) Sexual Reproduction- Points earned by raising plants from seeds produced by blooms grown by the entrant on their own plant after acquiring it.

HAP Point Schedule

To obtain HAP points, the Milwaukee Aquarium Society member must be a member in good standing of the Milwaukee Aquarium Society. Plants must be owned and maintained by the entrant and must be maintained in the entrant’s own aquarium or pond. Reproduction of the plants must occur under the direct care of the member in their home.

An “Aquatic Plant Propagation Report” (and any required article) must accompany the plant. The Aquatic Plant Propagation Report must be in printed form using the standardized report form as directed by the HAP chairperson on a standard sheet (8 ½” X 11”) of white paper. Participating members are solely responsible for obtaining, completing, and submitting all paperwork. Files submitted or presented electronically (e mail, web page, floppy, CD/DVD) will not be accepted. Articles may be submitted electronically if accompanied by a standard printed version.

A completed HAP report must be filled out and submitted at the time of verification. The plant must be properly bagged and labeled and brought in at the time of any regular monthly club meeting for verification. If you are submitting a flowering/bloom report, a photo is acceptable proof of the bloom should you not be able to contact the chairperson while the bloom is open. A member can request that the HAP chairperson make a visit to their residence to verify the bloom. Only one plant species per bag will be allowed. A minimum of a one-plant submission is required for vegetative reproductions. A plant must be in sellable condition that can be easily planted by a buyer at the clubs mini auction (rooted type plants must have roots and bunch type plants must have an acceptable stem length for planting into a substrate with a stem being able to protrude a minimum of two inches above the substrate).

All effort must be made to register plants on the Aquatic Plant Propagation Report by their current scientific name. If the scientific name is not available then the common name may be used as needed. Points will be awarded only once for any species.

Verified Class A, B, C, and D propagations are awarded 5, 10, 15, and 20 points respectively. Written articles detailing the propagation methods are required in both C and D class. To encourage others to become involved in the HAP, all plants submitted for points shall be offered to other members at the monthly Milwaukee Aquarium Society mini-auction of the same day that the submission is made, regardless of class (blooms are excluded). Exception requests can be made to the HAP chairperson. The proceeds from this auction will be used to defray the cost of the HAP to the Milwaukee Aquarium Society.

The HAP chairperson will perform final acceptance of the Aquatic Plant Propagation Report. The HAP chairperson can assign verifiers as needed during the course of the program. In the event that the HAP chairperson is absent from a meeting, any Society officer, Board member, or BAP committee member can accept the HAP submission and forward the results to the HAP chairperson. The HAP chairperson reserves the right to exclude any plant that is doubtful and may reassign plants to correct identification errors or other problems.

Honoring All HAP Points

MAS members will never lose their HAP points and can return to active participation at any time during their paid membership. Likewise, members with a HAP “list” from another recognized and verifiable club can apply for a point transfer. The paperwork, which accompanied the propagation through the original club’s HAP program, must accompany any and all propagations submitted for transfer consideration into the MAS HAP. The MAS HAP chairperson must assess these submissions and convert them into MAS HAP points. Should this paperwork be unavailable, personal letters of reference from board members, officers, or program chairs of the originating club should be submitted in writing to the MAS HAP chairperson. No “New Species” or “Article” nor any other bonus category points will be awarded. After these submissions have been assessed and verified, the participant will be treated and judged as any other Milwaukee Aquarium Society member.

Prizes & Awards

• Prizes are awarded quarterly from a random drawing of all propagations verified within that quarter.
• Merit Prizes are also awarded at year’s end to horticulturists with the greatest accumulation of propagations during the HAP year (December to November).
• Participants achieving the Junior (junior members only), Senior, Advanced, and Expert levels are awarded a Horticulturist Certificate. Master Horticulturist is awarded a plaque. Ultimate Horticulturist receives plaque upgrade and standing trophy.
• It is the duty of the chairperson to obtain and present all awards.

HAP Committee

The Horticulture Award Program Committee will consist of a chairperson and additional members as appointed by the Chair.

The HAP committee will:

1. Maintain records, report tallied standings to the “Splash” editor, verify propagations at regular monthly club meetings, and confer on the placement of new species into the HAP “Species Point Table”.
2. Have the final decision on any changes that may occur after the program is initiated. On any disputed matter, the committee will meet for discussion and a vote will be taken. The majority vote results will be taken as the decision. In the event there is a tie in the vote, the chairperson will have the deciding vote.
3. Be responsible for maintaining the “Species Point Table”. Points will be awarded based upon the species placement within this table. Any new species will be added as the species name is identified and any existing names will be changed based upon any name changes with any supporting documentation. On occasion the point values may need to be changed at the committee’s discretion. Any changes to the point values within this table will be reflected within the individual member tallies. Member’s tallies will never be reduced through a species point value reduction. Participants must submit requests for point upgrades to the HAP chairperson.

Species Point Table

Species history or reputation for propagation is considered to be factors that contribute to the species placement within the Species Point Table. Information has also been obtained from other sources including books, other club point designations and information, and Internet based resources. Updates will be performed periodically to add species or update species names as they become available.

A = 5  B = 10  C = 15  D = 20

A- Acorus

C- Aglaonema simplex

D- Aldrovanda Vesiculosa

C- Alternanthera

B- Ammania

D- Anubias

D- Aponogeton Except: -C- Aponogeton boivinianus -C- Aponogeton ulvaceus -C- Aponogeton henkelianus

A- Azolaceae

B- Bacopa

C- Barclaya

C- Blyxa

C- Bolbitis

B- Brasneria schreberi

D- Bucephelandra

B- Cabomba Except: -C- Cabomba piahyuensis

B- Caradamine

C- Caulerpa

A- Ceratophyllum

A- Ceratopteris

C- Cladaphora

B- Crassula

C- Crinum

C- Cryptocoryne

C- Cyperus

C- Didiplis

C- Echinodorus Except: -B Echinodorus tenellus & bolivianum

A- Egeria

C- Eichhornia Except: -C-azurea -C-crassipes

B- Eleocharis

A- Elodea

A- Fontinalis

A- Fissidens

C- Glossostigma elatinoides

C- Gracilaria

A- Gymnocoronis

C- Halimedia

B- Hemianthus Except: -C- Hemianthus callitrichoides

B- Heteranthera

B- Hottonia

B- Hydrilla

C- Hydrocharis

B- Hydrocleys

B- Hydrocotyle

A- Hygrophila (some also sometimes called nomaphila) Except: -10- Hygrophila difformis -10- Hygrophila stricta

B- Hygroryza aristata

B- Iris pseudacorus

C- Isoetes

B- Lagarosiphon

D- Lagenandra

A- Lemna

A- Leptodictyum

B- Lilaeopsis

C- Limnobium

B- Limnophila

B- Lindernia

B- Lobelia

A- Lomariopsis

B- Ludwigia

B- Lysimachia

C- Marsilea

B- Mayaca

B- Micranthemum

C- Microsorum

B- Micromeria brown

B- Myosotis scorp

B- Myriophyllum

A- Najas

B- Nelumbo

C- Nesaea

B- Nitella

C- Nuphar

C- Nymphaea

B- Nymphoides

D- Ottelia

B- Pistia

A- Plagiochilaceae

B- Pogostemon

B- Potamogeton

B- Prosperpinaca palustris

A- Riccia

A- Riccocarpus

B- Rotala Except: -C- Rotala macranda -C- Rotala magenta

A- Sagittaria

A- Salvinia

B- Samolus

B- Saururus cernuus

B- Shinnersai

B- Stratiotes aloides

A- Spirodella

B- Staurogyne

A- Synnema triflorum

A- Taxiphyllum

B- Thalia

C- Trapa

B- Typha latifolia

B- Utricularia

A- Vallisneria

C- Ventricaria

A- Vesicularia

A- Wolffia

MAS HAP Propogation Report

MAS Horticulture Awards Program Program Rules and Regulations

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