A reply: "I'm afraid this is yet another photo that is unidentifiable as the people submitting photos do not know what features are required to see. This has applied to nearly every photo in this forum so far. Yet there is plenty of literature available to tell people what features to look at - but they don't bother to look for and read it. No Marsilea species in Asia can be identified merely from the leaves, which are well known to vary enormously depending on their situation (in water versus on land). One has to see the shape of the sorocarps, which occur in the plants on land. The common species throughout India is M. minuta (many synonyms described from India), often in the past mistakenly confused with the European M. quadrifolia (not present in India), but with sorocarps borne in the axil of the basal runner and the leaf stalk (in M. quadrifolia trhey are a little up on the leaf-stalk base). I cannot imagine where the idea of the Australian endemic M. drummondii (which has densely hairy leaves etc.) came from. In South India also M. aegyptiaca occurs, but again one must see the sorocarps. The chances are highest that this is just M. minuta (it does not say where from?), but it cannot be positively recognised from sterile leaves. More interesting is the small red floating plant with it. Its radiate growth pattern, not pinnate-triangular, shows that it is Azolla filiculoides, not the native A. pinnata subsp. asiatica. A. filiculoides is also present throughout India as a widespread adventive species from Europe, usually introduced and escaped into rice fields, but is much overlooked as it was not reported in earlier literature - and is frequently misreported as being A. pinnata. The two are actually quite easy to distinguish from the growth pattern of plants. Cheers, Chris Fraser-Jenkins, Kathmandu."
Thanks, Dr. Chris F-J. On 25 November 2011 18:16, J.M. Garg <[email protected]> wrote: > Forwarding again for Id confirmation or otherwise please. > > Some earlier relevant feedback: > > “all pictures are of *Marsilea sp*. even the 3rd one... > regards, > H.S.” > > > > “can it be *Marsilea drummondii ?”* from Nalini ji. > > > > “It seems to be *Marsilea sps.* > > Regards > Hemant Bedekar” > > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > From: raghu ananth <[email protected]> > Date: 17 June 2011 02:02 > Subject: [efloraofindia:71857] Aquatic Plant - Marsilea species > To: [email protected] > > > *( Plant which mimics Amphibian !)* > *Looks **similar to the fern - **Marsilea crenata Presl > - MARSILEACEAE - Pteridophytae* > * pepperwort, water clover. * > * > * > * > * > *round stem, hairy, 4 leaflets, partially submerged or * > *terrestrial, margin entire(in young leaves) * > * > * > *Photo date: 09 Jun 2009* > *Habitat Irrigation stream.* > *Hampapura village, Mysore dist* > * > * > *Regards* > *Raghu* > > > > -- > With regards, > J.M.Garg ([email protected]) > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Jmgarg1 > 'Creating awareness of Indian Flora & Fauna' > The whole world uses my Image Resource of more than a *thousand species*& > eight thousand images of Birds, Butterflies, Plants etc. (arranged > alphabetically & place-wise): > http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:J.M.Garg. You can also use > them for free as per Creative Commons license attached with each image. > For identification, learning, discussion & documentation of Indian Flora, > please visit/ join our Efloraofindia Google e-group: > http://groups.google.co.in/group/indiantreepix (more than 1740 members & > 90,000 messages on 31/10/11) or Efloraofindia website: > https://sites.google.com/site/efloraofindia/ (with a species database > of more than 6000 species). > Also author of 'A Photoguide to the Birds of Kolkata & Common Birds of > India'. > > -- With regards, J.M.Garg ([email protected]) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Jmgarg1 'Creating awareness of Indian Flora & Fauna' The whole world uses my Image Resource of more than a *thousand species* & eight thousand images of Birds, Butterflies, Plants etc. (arranged alphabetically & place-wise): http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:J.M.Garg. You can also use them for free as per Creative Commons license attached with each image. For identification, learning, discussion & documentation of Indian Flora, please visit/ join our Efloraofindia Google e-group: http://groups.google.co.in/group/indiantreepix (more than 1740 members & 90,000 messages on 31/10/11) or Efloraofindia website: https://sites.google.com/site/efloraofindia/ (with a species database of more than 6000 species). Also author of 'A Photoguide to the Birds of Kolkata & Common Birds of India'.
