Mazus pumilus var. pumilus (Thunb.) Kuntze
Vernacular name: Japanese mazus (Hindi: जापानी माज़ुस)
Species Name: Mazus pumilus var. pumilus (Thunb.) Kuntze
Family: Mazaceae (formerly Scrophulariaceae)
Habit: Annual/perennial creeping herb
Stem: Erect or prostrate 10–30 cm, glabrous or sparsely hairy, rooting at nodes.
Leaf: Rosette and opposite stem leaves, ovate-oblong 1–4 × 0.5–2 cm, petiolate, crenate-serrate, fleshy.
Flowering: Spring–summer.
Flowers: Axillary racemes; 5 green sepals (campanulate 4–6 mm), 5 violet/white corolla lobes (2-lipped, 8–12 mm, lower lip 3-lobed with yellow throat ridges), 4 stamens (anthers divaricate, didynamous), superior ovary (2-locular).
Fruit: Globose capsule 4–5 mm, many seeds.
Uses:
- Leaf extracts serve as traditional diuretic and anti-inflammatory remedy.
- Japanese wetland companion plant; escaped ornamental; “self-mulching” creeper.
- Groundcover in rock gardens and moist lawns; tolerates light foot traffic
