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ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PLANTS

Glossostigma elantoides (Glossostigma povyanichkovaya)

Family Scrophulariaceae (Noricorne).
Distribution Australia, New Zealand, Tasmania.
A gentle marsh plant with creeping, often branching shoots that start roots on all the nodes. Crustacea up to 2.0 cm, leaves opposite. Leaf whole-leaf, leaf blade naked, 0.3-1.2 cm long, 6 mm wide, light green. The tip is blunted or notched. The flowers are axillary, separate, with a pedicel about 10 mm. Calyx 4-lobed, green, about 2 mm long. The corolla of the flower is white, about 5 mm in size, with a 3-lobed lower and 2-lobed upper lip, slightly shaggy and ciliate along the edge. Inside the corolla there are 4 stamens (2 long and 2 short). Pestle with a large, tongue-shaped stigma, slightly protruding beyond the corolla. A box with about 20 seeds.
Elegant, well-growing, ground cover very light-loving plant. When illuminated high intensity shoots are creeping, with a deficit of light they tend to up. Therefore, a shallow, well-illuminated aquarium is recommended for culture. For good growth, soft, slightly acidic water is optimal at a temperature of 22 - 26 degrees C. Planting a tender stem into the soil of fine sand requires some patience and should be performed with precautions. Reproduction by lateral shoots. In summer the species can be cultivated along the edges of the backyard pond where they will bloom regularly. Winterproof.
It grows in marshy areas, in rivers and lakes it is often completely under water.
The pollination process is interesting: as soon as the stigma is touched, it opens upwards with the mechanism of irritation and uncovers the anther. Before any insect gets into the dustbin, the introduced pollen falls on the furred outside stigma, which results in cross pollination.