Marsilea

Common name:         Water Clover 

• Also, four-leaf clover 

Conservation status: unkown

Etymology:   

• Common names because of the long-stalked leaves have four clover-like lobes 

• Honours Italian naturalist Luigi Ferdinando Marsili (1656–1730)

Spores:                            

• The sporocarps of some Australian species are very drought-resistant, surviving up to 100 years in dry conditions

• On wetting, the gelatinous interior of the sporocarp swells, splitting it and releasing a worm-like mass that carries sori, eventually leading to germination of spores and fertilization

Leaves:         

•  Long-stalked with clover-like lobes

• Are either present above water or submerged

Stem & branches: 

• x

Roots:         

• x

Habit:        

• Small plants of unusual appearance not resembling common ferns

Habitat:   

• Aquatic ferns

Distribution:                  

• x

• Marsilea hirsuta was introduced to the Azores but formerly thought to be an endemic species, M. azorica

Species:                     

• World:            65

• Australia:      S,    G

Additional notes:     

• Marsilea is a genus of aquatic ferns of the family Marsileaceae

• Uses

• As food

  • Sporocarps of some Australian species such as Marsilea drummondii are edible and have been eaten by Aborigines and early white settlers, who knew it under the name ngardu or nardoo

  • Parts of Marsilea drummondii contain an enzyme which destroys thiamine (vitamin B1), leading to brain damage in sheep and horses

  • During floods in the Gwydir River basin 2,200 sheep died after eating nardoo

  • Three-quarters of the sheep that were affected did however respond to thiamine injections

  • Thiamine deficiency from incorrectly prepared nardoo likely resulted in the starvation and death of Burke and Wills

  • The leaves of Marsilea crenata are part of the East Javanese cuisine of Indonesia, especially in the city of Surabaya; it is called Pecel Semanggi and is served with spicy peanut and sweet potato sauce

• Ornamental

  • A few species in the genus, such as Marsilea crenata, Marsilea exarata, Marsilea hirsuta, and Marsilea quadrifolia, are grown in aquaria.

• Formerly placed here

• Salvinia natans (L.) All. (as M. natans L.)[8]

• Taxonomy

• Molecular phylogenetic analysis of the genus Marsilea shows the following tree.[9] This tree indicates that M. crenata is the same species (or a subspecies) of M. minuta, and possibly M. fadeniana also. Additionally, this analysis contradicts reports[10] that M. polycarpa is a synonym for M. minuta