Aquatic PlantsAdvanced🌤️ Bright indirect

Glossostigma

Glossostigma elatinoides · also called Glosso, Small mud-mat, Mud mat

🐾 Pet-safe

Generally non-toxic to cats and dogs.

A classic, fast-growing carpeting plant with tiny paired spoon-shaped leaves on creeping stems. Forms a beautiful low lawn but is famously light-hungry and grows upward if under-lit. Formerly placed in Scrophulariaceae, now classified in Phrymaceae.

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Quick facts

Category	Aquatic Plants
Family	Phrymaceae
Native origin	New Zealand and Australia (including Tasmania)
Care difficulty	Advanced
Light	Bright indirect
Pet toxicity	Pet-safe

Light

High light (around 50-80+ PAR at substrate) is essential. This is one of the most light-demanding carpet plants; under inadequate light it grows tall and vertical instead of creeping flat, ruining the carpet effect. The 'bright_indirect' value here is used as the closest high-light option.

Water

Temperature 15-26 C, pH 5.5-7.5, soft to moderately hard water (low-to-moderate GH/KH preferred). Needs steady water-column fertilisation, especially iron and macros, to fuel its rapid growth.

Soil & potting

Plant in nutrient-rich aquasoil for best results; root tabs are important in inert substrates because it is a heavy root feeder. Plant in small pinches pressed into the substrate. It can lift the substrate over time as it builds layers and may need periodic thinning/replanting to stay flat. It is substrate-rooted, not an epiphyte.

Environment — humidity, temperature, placement

Pressurised CO2 is strongly recommended (practically required) for a flat, dense, healthy carpet. Good flow and high light keep growth horizontal. Foreground placement. Grows emersed in nature and in nurseries; converts to submersed form after planting.

Propagation

Spreads aggressively via creeping runners/stems that root at the nodes. Propagate by trimming and replanting cuttings or dividing the mat. Frequent trimming is needed to keep it low and prevent the lower layers from rotting and detaching.

Toxicity detail

Non-toxic and safe for fish and shrimp. Not specifically restricted in the mainstream aquarium hobby, but as a vigorous wetland creeper (and a noted introduced/weedy species outside its native range) it should never be released into natural waterways; dispose of excess in the trash.

Growth stages

How this plant changes through its life — each stage often has its own care, diet and space needs.

Photo coming soon

Spore / recruit

Aquatic plants and macroalgae establish from spores, seeds, or drifting fragments that settle and attach to substrate or rock. Many freshwater aquarium plants and marine macroalgae also spread readily from a detached piece that takes root or holdfast.

Photo coming soon

Young growth

Young growth puts out its first blades, fronds, or leaves and anchors with roots or a holdfast. Submersed plants may look different from their emersed form, and growth speeds up as the plant adapts to the water's light and nutrients.

Mature

A mature aquatic plant or macroalga reaches its full size and characteristic shape, forming the dense growth, runners, or fronds typical of the species. Established plants spread to fill space and can be divided or trimmed to propagate.

Sources

Tropica - Glossostigma elatinoides plant database (care guide)
Wikipedia - Glossostigma elatinoides (encyclopedia)