Common nardoo

Marsilea drummondii

Also known as Nardoo, Australian nardoo, Common water clover, Four-leaf clover

FreshwaterCarpetingRunnersdivision

Common nardoo (Marsilea drummondii) — Mark Marathon · CC BY-SA 4.0

Care at a glance

Light: Medium light
CO2: CO₂ beneficial
Growth rate: Slow
Placement: Foreground
Type: Carpeting
Temperature: 64–82°F (18–28°C)
pH: 6.0–7.5
Hardness: 2–15 dGH
Max height: 4.7 in (12 cm)
Spread: 7.9 in (20 cm)
Nutrient uptake: Root + water column
Growth region: Submersed or emersed
Difficulty: Easy
Origin: An aquatic clover fern widespread across inland Australia, growing in claypans, floodplains, and slow water that dries out between seasons.
Family: Marsileaceae

Overview

Plant small portions into the substrate and let the rhizome creep outward under moderate light. It is undemanding but slow, and CO2 with a rich substrate helps it carpet faster and stay compact. Trim taller emergent leaves to keep the growth low and tidy.

In the wild

Common nardoo is an aquatic fern whose leaves look like four leaf clovers, floating on the surface or carpeting damp ground as floodwaters recede. In an aquarium the submerged form usually drops to one or two leaflets held low over the substrate. It spreads by a creeping rhizome to form a loose foreground carpet.

Good to know

Despite the clover shaped leaves, Marsilea is a fern that reproduces by spores held in hard capsules called sporocarps, not by seeds. The submerged form often reduces from four leaflets to one or two, which is a normal response to being underwater.

Did you know

Nardoo spore pods were ground into flour by Aboriginal Australians, but eaten unprocessed the plant carries an enzyme that destroys vitamin B1, which is thought to have contributed to the deaths of the explorers Burke and Wills.