Marsilea mutica
Mett. Smooth NardooRhizome glabrous. Fronds often distant, borne singly at nodes. Stipe usually 5–25 cm long, swollen at apex. Leaflets equally arranged, obovate to broadly obovate-cuneate, 5–40 mm long, glabrous; colour in two zones-yellow-green and mid-green or occasionally reddish; outer margins rounded and entire. Sporocarps in groups of 2–4, almost globose, 3–6 mm diam., fawn to brown, densely hairy (sometimes 'duck-tailed' as in M. drummondii), becoming glabrous; stalks branched, 1–2 cm long.
Wim, VVP, VRiv, GipP, Gold, HSF. Also WA, NT, Qld, NSW, Tas. (where introduced). New Caledonia. Occurs in and at the margins of freshwater swamps and billabongs. Many recent records of this species from areas near Donald, Werribee, Lilydale and Warrigal areas include occurrences in farm dams and other artificial water-bodies and these probably represent dispersal from cultivated plants. It is not clear whether the first-located (1964) Victorian populations of this species, from the Heyfield-Stratford areas in Gippsland are indigenous.
Aquatic plants can have much larger leaves and longer stipe (up to 80 cm) than nearby terrestrial ones.
Entwisle, T.J. (1994). Ferns and allied plants (Psilophyta, Lycopodiophyta, Polypodiophyta). In: Walsh, N.G.; Entwisle, T.J., Flora of Victoria Vol. 2, Ferns and Allied Plants, Conifers and Monocotyledons, pp. 13–111. Inkata Press, Melbourne.
Spinning
