Narrow leaf water clover

Marsilea angustifolia

Also known as Narrowleaf four-leaf clover, Narrow leaf four leaf clover, Narrow-leaf nardoo, Water clover, Marsilea

FreshwaterFernRunnersRhizome division

Care at a glance

Light: Medium light
CO2: CO₂ beneficial
Temperature: 64–86°F; 18–30°C
Max height: 3.1 in; 8 cm

Growth rate: Medium
Placement: Foreground
Type: Fern
pH: 5.0–8.0
Hardness: 0–14 dGH
Spread: 4.7 in (12 cm)
Nutrient uptake: Root + water column
Growth region: Submersed or emersed
Difficulty: Easy
Family: Marsileaceae
Origin: Australia

Overview

A hardy, easy carpeting fern that spreads by runners into a low foreground mat, well suited to nano tanks. Submersed it tends to drop the classic four-lobe pattern and produce single or two-lobed leaves, and strong light plus CO2 keep it short and compact rather than tall and leggy. Plant small pieces of rhizome a couple of centimeters apart and let it fill in; new leaves often emerge brownish before greening up.

In the wild

An Australian native water fern of seasonally wet ground and pond margins across northern Australia, very drought tolerant where flooding is only seasonal. Emersed the four-lobed clover leaves stand upright on wet soil, and they will float on the surface when the plant is submerged in deeper water. It creeps across the substrate on a horizontal rhizome.

Good to know

Despite the clover-like foliage this is a true fern in the family Marsileaceae, not a flowering plant, and it reproduces in nature by spore-bearing structures called sporocarps rather than seeds. The genus is heterosporous, producing both large and small spores, which is unusual among ferns. Species identification within cultivated Marsilea is notoriously difficult and often unreliable in the trade.

Did you know

Did you know Marsilea sporocarps are among the most durable propagules in the plant world, with dried specimens of related species reportedly germinating after more than a century in storage.