Nardoo - a native (Marsilea drummondii)
Other names: Dullum Dullum.
Family: Marsileaceae (Nardoo family).
Native of all Mainland States.
Occurrence: Grows in shallow water, depressions and dry lake beds.
Identification:
- the leaves resemble a four-leaf clover
- the leaf stalks arise from the base of the plant
- the leaflets are about as broad as long.
Similar species: Narrow-leaf Nardoo (M. costulifera) has smaller leaflets, and the width of the leaflets is less than the length. It is moderately common in Central Victoria.
Short-fruit Nardoo (M. hirsuta) occurs in Barkers Creek Reservoir and perhaps elsewhere in our district. It differs from M. drummondii in having smaller sporocarps on very short stalks and, contrary to its name, usually less hairy leaves
Name: drummondii: James Drummond was the first government naturalist in WA.
Nardoos are ferns. They reproduce from spores that are produced in spore cases at the leaf bases. The leaves are divided into two, which are again deeply divided into two lobes, so that the leaf appears to be 4-lobed.
