Japanese name: サギゴケ（鷺苔） Scientific name:Mazus miquelii
[Overview]
A perennial 5–15 cm tall, found on slightly moist rice-paddy ridges and similar places.
The leaves are clustered at the base, and it spreads by sending out creeping stems from among them, so it often grows in colonies.
The leaves are 2–5 cm long and 1.5–2 cm wide; the basal leaves are obovate with petioles and irregular teeth on the margins.
The leaves on the creeping stems are obovate to round, small, and have no petioles.
The flower stalk also bears a few leaves.
The flower stalk is 10–15 cm tall and bears several flowers in a raceme.
The corolla is reddish purple and 1.5–2 cm long, with the tip opening in two lips; the upper lip is shallowly 2-lobed and the lower lip 3-lobed, with a raised center that is yellow with reddish brown markings.
The fruit is a flattened spherical capsule enclosed in the calyx.
[Uses]
It spreads easily by creeping stems, so it is used as ground cover.
[Cultivation]
Propagate from seed or by division.
It prefers a sunny place with good drainage and good water retention, and dislikes dryness.
Cultivation is easy.
[Notes]
The name is said to compare the flower to a heron and the plant's form to moss.
