Chocolate Marble Sword

The Chocolate Marble Sword (Echinodorus 'Chocolate Marble') is a highly decorative hybrid aquarium plant known for its rich, marble-patterned leaves that display deep reddish-brown and green tones.

Name

• Scientific Name: Echinodorus 'Chocolate Marble'

• Common Names: Chocolate Marble Sword, Chocolate Marble Amazon Sword

Characteristics

• Appearance: Features broad, lance-shaped leaves with a striking mottled or marbled pattern. New leaves emerge in deep chocolate-brown to bronze-red tones before slowly maturing to olive-green with lingering dark marbling.

• Size: Medium to large rosette plant, growing 10–16+ inches (25–40+ cm) tall, making it an excellent focal point for the midground or background.

• Feeding Style: Heavy root feeder—requires a nutrient-dense substrate or frequent supplementation with iron-rich root tabs to sustain robust leaf production and deep coloration.

• Growth Rate: Moderate to fast under ideal conditions.

Temperature

• Ideal Range: 68°F – 82°F (20°C – 28°C)

• Note: Fits comfortably into standard tropical freshwater aquariums.

Lighting

• Requirement: Moderate to High

• Note: Higher light levels enhance and preserve the rich chocolate and reddish-bronze marbling on new foliage. Under low light, new leaves turn pale or dull green with less distinct patterning.

CO2: Not Required.

Propagation

• Method: Adventitious Plantlets (Runners) or Crown Division

• How it works: Mature specimens produce long flowering stalks with small daughter plantlets along the nodes. Once plantlets develop several leaves and roots, snip them off and plant them into the substrate. Large parent plants can also be split at the root crown during maintenance.