Dwarf Waterclover, Miniature Waterclover

Marsilea minuta

Daniel Zohary and
Tuvia Kushnir collected Marsilea minuta a few times in
1941-1942 between Teo Spring (Ǧahula)
and Bet Yasmin, in the Hula
Valley. It is now extinct, and has not been found again in Israel. Shauli
Beckerman from Kibbutz Gonen provided plants that had been collected before the
Hula marshes were drained by the Tel Aviv University Botanical Garden, which
were planted in the Hula Reserve and in Agamon HaHula. Additional plants are
grown in Ati Yaffe's garden in Kibbutz Netiv HaLamed-Heh.

Marshes and their
edges. Marsilea minuta is extinct in nature
but cultivated on moist lawns and ponds (Ati Yaffe, Kibbutz Netiv HaLamed-Heh).

The genus Marsilea
belongs to the Marsileaceae family, which is the only family in the order Marsileales
that belongs to the class Filicopsida. In addition to Marsilea the Marsileaceae
family has another two
genera.  The genus Marsilea has about 65
species, in tropical and temperate regions. All the species grow in wetlands
and marshes. In Australia, the natives used the leaves and sporocarps
as food.

Marsilea minuta is extinct in
Israel probably as a result of the changes in the Hula Valley following the drainage
of the lake and marshes. Even in the past, it was extremely rare and was
reported from only one site in the western Hula Valley. Today it grows only under
cultured conditions or following naturalization in marshy habitats. Due to its broad
geographical distribution in marshes and wetlands in tropical countries, it is
probably not globally endangered.

To increase the efforts
that have already been made to populate and reintroduce Marsilea minuta and to monitor
plant development.

Marsilea minuta has a tropical distribution. It is found in all the countries of tropical Africa: Senegal,
Mauritania, Chad, Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Benin, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau,
Mali, Nigeria, Madagascar and the Comoros Islands. In tropical Asia, it grows in
India and Malaysia. Outside the tropics, it grows in a disjunct pattern in the southern
Mediterranean countries – Morocco, Algeria and Egypt. It is also found in the
Canary Islands.

Marsilea minuta is an herbaceous
fern characteristic of marshes in tropical countries, which was once found at a
single site in the Hula Valley but is now extinct from Israel. Steps were taken
to reintroduce and grow the species as a cultured plant; they should be
reinforced and the M.
minuta plantings should
be monitored over the long-term.

נמליך, ח. ואלטיזר, י. 1985. השרכניים בישראל. דביר