Glosso

Glossostigma elatinoides

Also known as Glossostigma, Mud mat, Small mud-mat

FreshwaterCarpetingRunnersCuttings

Glosso (Glossostigma elatinoides) — Murray Fagg · CC BY-SA 3.0

Care at a glance

Light: High light
CO2: CO₂ required
Growth rate: Fast
Placement: Foreground
Type: Carpeting
Temperature: 59–79°F (15–26°C)
pH: 5.0–7.5
Hardness: 0–14 dGH
Max height: 1.6 in (4 cm)
Spread: 3.9 in (10 cm)
Nutrient uptake: Root + water column
Growth region: Submersed
Difficulty: Difficult
Origin: Australia, New Zealand and Tasmania
Family: Phrymaceae

Overview

One of the classic aquascaping carpets, but a hungry one: it needs high light, CO2 injection (about 20 to 40 mg/l), and steady nutrients to stay short and dense. Split clumps into single nodes and plant them spaced out on fine substrate so the runners fill in fast. Under weak light it stretches upward and grows in two or three stacked layers, so keep light strong and trim regularly to force horizontal growth. The lower layers can rot and lift the mat if it gets too thick.

In the wild

Native to Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand, where it grows in shallow water, bogs, marshes and along river banks, fully or partly submerged. It is a creeping marginal plant that hugs muddy ground, which is why it picked up the common name mud mat.

Good to know

Long sold under the family Scrophulariaceae, the genus Glossostigma is now placed in Phrymaceae (the lopseed family). It is closely related to Glossostigma diandrum, which has two stamens versus the four of G. elatinoides. The paired oval leaves sit on short petioles, and plants typically arrive emersed and convert to submersed form within a couple of weeks.

Did you know

Glosso was one of the plants Takashi Amano popularized as a foreground lawn, and it helped define the lush carpeted look of the nature aquarium style.