Marsilea drummondii

Internal links:             Monilophytes > Salviniales > Marsileaceae > Marsilea drummondii

External links:     Monilophytes > Salviniales > Marsileaceae > Marsilea drummondii

Wikipedia links:        Monilophytes > Salviniales > Marsileaceae > Marsilea drummondii

Other links:    

Species:    M drummondii,  M costulifera

Common name:         Common Nardoo  

• x

Conservation status: unkown

• x

Etymology:   

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

• 
  

Spores:                            

• The plant produces sporocarps which can remain viable for 50 years and only release spores after being thoroughly soaked

• The sporocarps are dispersed by birds that eat them but cannot digest them, and by flowing water

• The sporocarp is used for food by Aboriginal Australians, who collect, roast and grind them to powder which they mix with water to make a dough

Leaves:         

• In general the frond is made up of two pairs of leaflets and is borne erect when not floating

Stem & branches: 

• x

Roots:         

• x

Habit:        

• It is a rhizomatous perennial aquatic fern

•  It occurs in abundance after floods

• It can form mats on the water's surface and cover the ground in carpets as floodwaters recede

• It is variable in appearance and occurs in many types of wetland habitats

Habitat:   

• It roots in mud substrates and produces herbage that floats on the surface of quiet water bodies

• It occurs in water up to one metre deep

Distribution:                  

• Native to Australia and is widespread and common, particularly in inland regions

Additional notes:   

• Poisenous  

  • The sporocarp can be toxic due to high levels of thiaminase, which destroys thiamine

  • Consumption of large amounts can cause beriberi

  • It has been known to poison sheep, as well as humans, including the leaders of the Burke and Wills expedition

  • Nardoo must be prepared properly using heat before consumption to destroy the thiaminase

• Taxonomy

• • The earliest specimen in an Australian herbarium is MEL 0052999A

  • This was collected by Alan Cunningham in 1825 in the Brigalow Belt South region out of Gunnedah in the locality of Curlewis