Echinodorus cordifolius 'Tropica Marble Queen'

The spotted cultivated form Echinodorus cordifolius 'Tropica Marble Queen' belongs to the heart-leaved sword plant; a company in Singapore is given as its origin.¹²³ Its mosaic of green and brown tones on the blade, which is cordate at the base, results from unequal amounts of chlorophyll in the leaf cells.¹² It carries a virus that quickly spreads from emersed plants to water lilies and other plants with floating leaves and slows their growth; at first it had been thought to be a cross.¹

Leaves grown submersed gradually lose contrast, while emersed ones remain more clearly spotted; young leaves may turn reddish brown in plenty of light owing to anthocyanins.¹²³ Mature plants soon push aerial leaves on long stalks above the surface and are therefore exchanged for young plants after a few months.¹² As a specimen plant it is best suited to tall aquariums.²