• Approximate leaf spread: 45cm (18 inches)
  
• Recommended water depth over crown of plant: 5 - 15 cm (2 - 6 inches)
• Flower: None
• Supplied in the solid 1 litre pot we grow them in - for best results we recommend potting on using a 2 litre pot

This rare pond plant produces attractive glossy leaves which float on the water's surface like those of a small waterlily. These leaves reach up to 1½ inches across and have delicate two-tone markings, which are particularly striking on mature leaves. Although it looks just like a four-leaf clover, Marsilea mutica is actually an aquatic fern. Native to Australia, it particularly likes warm shallow water. It will send out floating runners across the water surface, and the speed of these depends on the temperature - it can spread quite fast in warm ponds, but much slower in colder ponds. Unlike most waterlilies, the size of its leaves are more in proportion for smaller ponds and even tubs. 

Contrary to popular belief, the plant is fully hardy in UK ponds: Marsilea mutica has been grown here at the nursery in East Anglia in small free-standing tubs for over 25 years with no protection whatsoever from frost or snow and always survives (the fourth picture shows the plant frozen into the ice in January).

If designing a planting scheme, we recommend approximately 1 Marsilea mutica plant per two square feet of water surface. Read more here on how to .