TankBud

Cultivar of Echinodorus

Aflame sword

Echinodorus 'Aflame'

One of 21 cultivars of Echinodorus · See all cultivars →

Also known as Purple Knight sword, Red Flame sword, Echinodorus Aflame

FreshwaterRosetteSide shootsPlantlets

Aflame sword (Echinodorus 'Aflame')
Aquarium Plants Factory · Used with permission

Cultivars · Echinodorus

See all 21 →

Care at a glance

Light
High light
CO2
CO₂ beneficial
Temperature
68–82°F
20–28°C
Max height
11.8 in
30 cm
Growth rate
Slow
Placement
Midground
Type
Rosette
pH
5.5–7.5
Hardness
2–12 dGH
Spread
9.8 in (25 cm)
Nutrient uptake
Root + water column
Growth region
Submersed or emersed
Difficulty
Medium
Family
Alismataceae
Origin
Cultivated hybrid (nursery-bred, not a wild species); parent stock from tropical South America

Overview

A red sword that stays moderately sized at roughly 25 to 30 cm, which suits it to the midground or the front of a larger background rather than a towering centerpiece. It is a heavy root feeder, so give it a nutrient-rich substrate with root tabs, plus iron and potassium to hold the deep burgundy to purple-red color. Strong light noticeably improves coloration and keeps it compact, and added CO2 is not strictly required but speeds and firms up growth; keep the crown above the substrate to avoid rot.

In the wild

Aflame is a nursery-produced hybrid rather than a wild-collected plant, so it has no native range of its own. Its Echinodorus parentage traces to the marshes, slow streams, and seasonally flooded ground of tropical Central and South America, where swords root in mud and push emersed leaves above the waterline.

Good to know

This is a cultivar in the family Alismataceae, sold under a quoted cultivar name because it has no valid botanical binomial. Like other Echinodorus it is a rosette-forming marsh plant that grows both submersed and emersed, and it flowers on tall inflorescences that produce adventitious plantlets rather than true seed under aquarium conditions.

Did you know

Did you know the leaf color is basically a light meter? Under weak light Aflame drifts toward plain green, and it only develops its signature dark red to purple tones when given intense lighting and iron.

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