Echinodorus Marble Queen

Broad leaves marbled in cream and green. Echinodorus 'Marble Queen' is the variegated sword — pattern rather than colour, on a plant large enough to hold the middle of a tank. Easier than most variegated aquatics, because the cream is marbling rather than a full loss of chlorophyll. What You'll Receive Sold as loose bare-root plants, rooted bunched, or rooted potted plants: Loose Bare-Root Plants: Approximately 1–2 loose, bare-root plants for flexible planting. Rooted Bunched: Approximately 1–2 plants, bundled with foam and a plant weight. Rooted Potted: Approximately 1–2 plants, potted in rock wool and a net pot for secure placement. Plant Profile Common name — Marble Queen Sword Scientific name — Echinodorus 'Marble Queen' Also known as — Echinodorus cordifolius 'Marble Queen', Marble Queen Amazon Sword Origin — Cultivated form; the genus is native to the Americas Placement — Midground to background Mature height — 10-16 inches Growth rate — Medium Care Difficulty — Beginner, provided you feed the roots Light — Medium CO₂ — Not required Water — 68-82°F, pH 6.5-7.5 Substrate — Required. Heavy root feeder — root tabs or aquasoil under the crown. Growth habit — Amphibious rosette; also grows emersed, so it suits paludariums Propagation — Adventitious plantlets on aerial floral stalks Grower's Notes Variegation is marbling, not albinism. The cream areas sit in a mostly green leaf, so unlike the heavily white Anubias this plant still photosynthesises normally and stays a beginner plant. What it will do under thin light is revert — push plainer green leaves — rather than decline. Feed it at the roots. Swords take nearly all their nutrition from the substrate. In inert gravel with liquid dosing alone the plant stalls and the pattern washes out, which people misread as a difficult plant rather than a hungry one. Plant the crown at substrate level, never below. Cover the roots and leave the growing point exposed. A buried crown rots from the centre. It propagates from floral stalks, not runners. A settled plant sends up a tall stalk carrying plantlets. Leave each attached until it has four or five leaves and its own roots, then cut it free. Expect the first leaves to melt. Grown emersed, so the arriving foliage dies back as it converts. The second flush is the one that shows the marbling properly. Want to go deeper? Read our complete Amazon Sword (Echinodorus) Care Guide. Notes Like all Amazon Swords, the Marble Queen may undergo a brief adjustment period after planting. Some leaves may melt back, but healthy roots will quickly sprout new growth once established. Never release aquarium plants into natural waterways.