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Kleiner Bar sword

Echinodorus 'Kleiner Bär'

Also known as Echinodorus 'Kleiner Bar', Little Bear sword, Kleiner Baer sword

FreshwaterRosetteSide shootsRunners

Care at a glance

Light
Medium light
CO2
CO₂ beneficial
Growth rate
Medium
Placement
Background
Type
Rosette
Temperature
72–82°F (22–28°C)
pH
6.0–7.5
Hardness
3–15 dGH
Max height
17.7 in (45 cm)
Spread
11.8 in (30 cm)
Nutrient uptake
Root + water column
Growth region
Submersed or emersed
Difficulty
Easy
Origin
Cultivar (hybrid of Echinodorus barthii and Echinodorus uruguayensis)
Family
Alismataceae

Overview

A large background sword often used as a single centrepiece. It does fine under moderate light without CO2, but strong light, a rich substrate and CO2 push vigorous growth and the darkest red colour, sometimes a new leaf every week. Plant it with room to spread and feed heavily at the roots; remove any occasional adventitious plantlets or old leaves at the base.

In the wild

A cultivated hybrid without a wild population. Its parent species are South American swords from Uruguay and the wider Amazon basin that grow in marshes, ditches and slow rivers, rooting in soft mud and often growing emersed in the dry season. Kleiner Bär inherits that large substrate-rooted rosette form.

Good to know

A hybrid between Echinodorus barthii and Echinodorus uruguayensis, in the family Alismataceae. The name is German for 'Little Bear'. Leaf colour is strongly light-dependent, shifting from olive-green in dim tanks to deep burgundy or maroon under bright light and good nutrition.

Did you know

Like several red swords, Kleiner Bär will sometimes throw adventitious plantlets directly from an old leaf or an emersed flower stalk, which can be pinned down and rooted to make new plants.

Where to buy

Some links may not be the exact species or variety.

…or ask your local fish store.

Appears in

Background plants · Sword plants · Beginner plants

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