Flora of North America species comparison

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Marsilea vestita

hairy clover-fern, hairy water-clover, pepperwort, water-clover, water-clover pepperwort, western water-clover
Habit Plants forming diffuse or dense clones.
Roots

arising at nodes.
Petioles

2–20 cm, sparsely pubescent.
Pinnae

4–19 × 4–16 mm, pubescent to glabrous.
Sori

14–22.
Sporocarp(s)

stalks erect, unbranched, attached at base of petiole (occasionally up to 3 mm above it), not hooked at apex, 0.5–25 mm.

Marsilea vestita
Phenology Sporocarps produced spring–fall (Apr–Oct).
Habitat Widespread and variable, in ponds and wet depressions and on river floodplains
Elevation 0–2300 m (0–7500 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AR; AZ; CA; CO; IA; ID; KS; LA; MN; MT; ND; NE; NM; NV; OK; OR; SD; TX; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC; SK; Mexico; South America in Peru
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Discussion

A number of segregate species have been named and recognized in regional floras in North America: Marsilea mucronata A. Braun (less hairy, found east of Rocky Mountains), M. uncinata (glabrous, sporocarp stalks long, distal tooth of sporocarp hooked, south central United States), M. tenuifolia (pinnae very narrow, central Texas), and M. fournieri (small plants and pinnae, southwest). The features upon which these species are based intergrade into one another. The species are therefore best treated as conspecific with M. vestita (D. M. Johnson 1986).

Putative hybrids between Marsilea macropoda and this species are discussed under the former.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 2.
Parent taxa Marsileaceae > Marsilea
Sibling taxa
M. ancylopoda, M. macropoda, M. mollis, M. oligospora, M. quadrifolia
Synonyms M. fournieri, M. mucronata, M. tenuifolia, M. uncinata, M. vestita subsp. tenuifolia
Name authority Hooker & Greville: Icon. Filic. 2: plate 159. (1830)
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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