Leaf colourgreen
Native range
- Alabama
- Arkansas
- Colombia
- Cuba
- District of Columbia
- Dominican Republic
- Florida
- Georgia
- Haiti
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Leeward Is.
- Louisiana
- Maryland
- Mexico Gulf
- Mexico Northeast
- Mexico Southeast
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- North Carolina
- Oklahoma
- South Carolina
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Venezuela
- Virginia
- Windward Is.
rosette semi-emersed background midground specimen
A big sword plant with wide, wavy, light green leaves. Fast for its size, undemanding, and one of the classic centrepieces for a large tank.
- Light
- low
- Difficulty
- easy
- Height
- 20 – 50 cm
- Temperature
- 5 – 30 °C
Parameters
Plant typerosette
Growth ratefast
CO₂ demandlow
Tolerates lightmedium – high
Carbonate hardness0 – 21 °dKH
Placementsemi-emersed, background +2
Propagationplantlets on the inflorescence +4
Grows emersedyes
Appearance
Broad heart-shaped blades on long stalks, 20–50 cm tall in a rosette a hand's span across. Rather than leaving the water, a large plant spreads its biggest leaves just under the surface.
Keeping
Easy and quick for a sword plant. Dim light is enough, carbon dioxide is optional, and a nutritious substrate does most of the work — like all swords it feeds mainly through the roots. Its size is the only real demand: in a small tank the leaves cover the whole surface.
Placement
The middle or back of a large tank, alone. Plants beneath it will be shaded, so leave the space around it clear.
Propagation
By young plants on the flower stalk, by dividing the rhizome, and from seed.
Fish and this plant
Water conditions match
The water suits 1017 of 1249 species in the catalogue — these are the ones people look up most often.
Swordtail GuppiesCobra GuppyBlood Red MollyButterflyfishRed Zebra CichlidJulii CorydorasRed-finned ParotocinclusGastromyzon monticolaEgg-shaped GoldfishFlame TetraGardner's KillifishAfrican TetraKenyi CichlidCuckoo CatfishGolden SwordtailHypsolebias picturatusCommon ZaccoLabeo BicolorGambusiaFlying barbGastromyzon scitulusAlbino Zebra DanioGeophagus BrokopondoZebra Mbuna
Will eat this plant
These species damage plants, especially when their diet is short of vegetable food.
Bengal LoachZebra LoachBurmese Border LoachEmperor BotiaSpined LoachMarbled HeadstanderPellegrin's LeporinusLeporinus striatusFalse Black TetraCommon MetynnisMylossoma duriventreRed Whiptail CatfishMolly sphenopsBalloon MollyLyretail MollyMarble MollyHi-Fin PlatyHawaii PlatyBlue PlatyPintail PlatyBlack PlatyChocolate MollyMoonlight GouramiMelanotaenia parva
Will uproot it
These species dig through the substrate and pull rooted plants out.
Marble LoachPeacock EelForktail LoachGuntea LoachLong-nosed LoachHorseface LoachPearlscaleBlack Moor GoldfishShubunkinPainted PlecoFeatherfin SynodontisReddish Mystus CatfishBlue AcaraAulonocara maylandiAulonocara multicolorAulonocara OrchidGeophagus altifronsGeophagus winemilleriPearlscale CichlidPearl CichlidRedbelly CichlidRed-spotted CichlidChuco godmanniHaplochromis philanderRed ChromideJack Dempsey cichlid
Cultivars
The same plant with a different look: light, water and care are shared with the species.
Other varieties: Echinodorus cordifolius, Echinodorus cordifolius 'Mini', Echinodorus cordifolius ''ovalis'', Echinodorus cordifolius 'Tropica Marble Queen', Echinodorus ovalis, Echinodorus cordifolius ’Fluitans’, Echinodorus cordifolius Fluitans, Echinodorus cordifolius Fluitans Topf, Echinodorus cordifolius Tropica Marble Queen, Echinodorus cordifolius Tropica Marble Queen Topf