Echinodorus marble queen

‘Marble Queen’ is a variegated selection of Echinodorus cordifolius, the Creeping Burhead or “Radican Sword”. Its longish ovate leaves with heart-shaped base show a pattern of darker and lighter green, also reddish patches. This variegation is more distinct in emersed than in submerged leaves. The emersed plant may get about 50 cm tall, the underwater stage has shorter leaves and petioles. The leaf blades reach a length of about 20 cm.

This Echinodorus is an easy, fast growing aquarium plant. It tolerates hard and alkaline water, but a nutrient-rich substrate and at least medium light intensity are beneficial. It has the tendency to grow out of the water with long-stalked aerial leaves. When these are cut off, shorter stalked submerged leaves may follow, but a full-grown, strong plant will continue to develop emersed foliage after a while. If this is not desired, the plant should be replaced by a young one. However, inflorescences with adventitious plantlets mainly appear on emersed specimens.

Echinodorus cordifolius ‘Tropica Marble Queen’ is a showy, large swordplant that can be used as solitary plant in the background to midground of larger tanks. Its tendency to grow out of the water is useful for open aquariums and tall paludariums where its variegated leaves and long, arching inflorescences with white flowers are an eyecatcher.