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Red Phoenix sword

Echinodorus 'Red Phoenix'

One of 21 cultivars of Echinodorus · See all cultivars →

Also known as Echinodorus Red Phoenix

FreshwaterRosettePlantletsRhizome division

Cultivars · Echinodorus

See all 21 →

Care at a glance

Light
Medium light
CO2
CO₂ beneficial
Growth rate
Medium
Placement
Midground
Type
Rosette
Temperature
68–82°F (20–28°C)
pH
6.0–7.5
Max height
15.7 in (40 cm)
Spread
9.8 in (25 cm)
Nutrient uptake
Root + water column
Growth region
Submersed or emersed
Difficulty
Easy
Origin
Cultivated hybrid (nursery-bred, no wild range); breeding origin undocumented
Family
Alismataceae

Overview

An easygoing red sword for the midground, or the background of smaller tanks, topping out around 40 cm. It is a heavy root feeder, so plant it in nutrient-rich substrate or keep root tabs under it on inert gravel, and keep the crown above the substrate line. Medium light keeps it healthy; stronger light and CO2 push more red into the new leaves but neither is required. Emersed-grown pots usually melt their old foliage while converting, so trim casualties at the base and let the submersed leaves take over. Remove the oldest leaves now and then, both for looks and because slow old sword leaves are where algae settles first.

In the wild

Red Phoenix is a nursery selection with no wild population. Its Echinodorus parents come from the marshes and riverbanks of South America, where sword plants grow emersed for much of the year and submersed during floods, and like them it is farmed emersed and converts to underwater growth after planting.

Good to know

A sword plant in the family Alismataceae and one of the newer red Echinodorus cultivars, sold under the trade name Red Phoenix with no formally published parentage. The oval, pointed leaves emerge orange to red and shift through green as they age, so a healthy plant carries a gradient of colour rather than a uniform red. Like the other modern red swords it is a product of the long-running Echinodorus hybrid complex rather than a selection of any single species.

Did you know

Its colour comes almost free by red-plant standards. Where red stem plants demand intense light and lean dosing to perform, this sword's new leaves emerge flame-coloured under ordinary community-tank lighting.

Appears in

Midground plants · Sword plants · Beginner plants

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