Echinodorus 'Red Special'

Echinodorus 'Red Special' is a cultivated hybrid with no natural occurrence that originates from a Danish nursery.² It has been in the trade since 2005.¹ The leaves turn green with age; before that they are reddish brown to deep dark red, with paler, contrasting veins and faint mottling that later disappears.¹² Blade lengths of 10–30 cm and 15–20 cm are given.¹²

The cultivar does not tend to form emersed leaves; after a long establishment period it grows quickly under good light in a nutrient-rich substrate.¹ Soft and hard water are both suitable,¹² and CO₂ and additional fertilisation are recommended.² A cultivar database describes a compact specimen plant 15–30 cm tall for the midground with daughter plants on the flower stalks;² according to another account it becomes spreading and needs very spacious tanks, and in one long-term culture it produced inflorescences only after three years and without plantlets.¹