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Mudmats

Glossostigma cleistanthum

Also called Mudmat

Mudmats
Photo: Leslie J. Mehrhoff, University of Connecticut, Bugwood.org, CC BY 3.0 us

Mudmats is a small, low-growing freshwater aquatic plant that forms dense mats on wet mud and shallow water margins. It thrives with its roots in saturated soil or shallow water and is mainly grown in ponds, bog gardens and aquariums.

Family
Phrymaceae (Phrym family)
Grows as
Aquatic
Light
Full sun, Part shade
Water
Keep the roots constantly wet or submerged in shallow water.
Soil
Wet mud or fine silt, or a bog-style mix kept saturated.
How easy
Moderate
Native range
SE. Australia, New Zealand
Climate
subtropical

About

Glossostigma cleistanthum, also known as mudmat, is a freshwater aquatic plant native to Australia, New Zealand, India and East Africa. It is a cleistogamous plant, which is a type of self-pollinating plant that can propagate using non-opening flowers. Where growth is submerged, the leaves are between 0.5–2.5 inches long and bear closed, self-pollinating flowers. These leaves are nearly sessile and grow along the stem in alternating pairs that resemble rabbit ears. Where water recedes and growth is emergent, the leaves are much smaller, ranging between 0.2–0.5 inches in length. The emergent plants produce insect-pollinated flowers located on short stalks. It belongs to the family Phrymaceae which includes annuals and perennials.

Other Glossostigma plants

Small Mud Mat

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Glossostigma cleistanthum by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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