Flora of North America species comparison

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Marsilea oligospora

Marsilea mollis

Nelson's pepperwort, Pacific clover-fern water-clover, Pacific water-clover

Chihuahuan waterclover
Habit Plants forming dense clones. Plants forming dense clones.
Roots

arising at nodes.

arising at nodes.
Petioles

3.1–5.7 cm, sparsely pubescent.

1–14 cm, sparsely erect-pilose to glabrous.
Pinnae

6–15 × 5–14 mm, pilose.

2–17 × 1–16 mm, densely pilose abaxially, sparsely pilose adaxially.
Sori

14–20.

10–14.
Sporocarp(s)

stalks erect, unbranched, attached at base of petiole, sometimes bent near apex, 5–10 mm.

stalks erect, unbranched, attached at base of petiole, or rarely up to 3.8 mm above it, not hooked at apex, 1.7–6.7 mm.

Marsilea oligospora

Marsilea mollis
Phenology Sporocarps produced summer–fall (Jun–Oct). Sporocarps produced spring–fall (May–Oct).
Habitat Around ponds and marshes, in wet depressions in sagebrush and less commonly on river margins On mud and in shallow water, in ponds and marshes
Elevation 700–2400 m (2300–7900 ft) 1300–2000 m (4300–6600 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; ID; MT; NV; OR; UT; WA; WY
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from FNA
AZ; TX; Mexico; South America
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Discussion

Marsilea oligospora recently has been resegregated from M. vestita (D. M. Johnson 1986), from which it differs consistently in its nodding sporocarps that lack a pronounced distal tooth and its pilose leaves and stems. Where their ranges overlap, M. oligospora also has longer sporocarp stalks than does M. vestita. Plants of this species were recently grown from spores 100 years old (D. M. Johnson 1985).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

The name Marsilea mexicana A. Braun has sometimes been misapplied to this species.

The red or brown streaks on the pinnae, reported as characteristic of Marsilea mollis by a number of authors, are found on floating leaves of nearly all species in the genus (D. M. Johnson 1986).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 2. FNA vol. 2.
Parent taxa Marsileaceae > Marsilea Marsileaceae > Marsilea
Sibling taxa
M. ancylopoda, M. macropoda, M. mollis, M. quadrifolia, M. vestita
M. ancylopoda, M. macropoda, M. oligospora, M. quadrifolia, M. vestita
Name authority Goodding: Bot. Gaz. 33: 66. (1902) B. L. Robinson & Fernald: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 30: 123. (1895)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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