Echinodorus 'Indian Red'

Echinodorus 'Indian Red' was bred by Hans Barth (Dessau, Germany) by crossbreding "Echinodorus aschersonianus" and Echinodorus uruguayensis "horemanii rot". It was brought onto the market in 1998.
It is a rather small Echinodorus variety of only 10 to 20 cm in height. It resembles Echinodorus osiris, which grows significantly larger, as well as Echinodorus x barthii, which differs from E. 'Indian Red' by leaf blades that curl towards the underside.
Its submersed leaves are narrowly elliptic and grow to about 20 cm long and 4 cm wide.
Under lots of light, the younger leaves are of a shining reddish-brown to dark red, later on they assume a green hue.
This variety is quite easy to be cultivated in an aquarium, but it is only rarely found in trade. The reason for this is the rust fungus Cercospora echinodori that especially strongly affects this Echinodorus in emersed cultivation in aquatic plant nurseries (www.heimbiotop.de).