# Differences among Marsilea crenata, Marsilea minuta, and Marsilea hirsuta



## bereninga (Mar 18, 2006)

Does anyone know this? I feel like the Google Images results for all three are exactly the same. Does anyone know the approximate leaf-size of each kind or how to differentiate? Are there any side-by-side comparisons?


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## jw.cS (Jan 13, 2005)

I apologize as I do not have the answer to your requests. I got pissed off and deleted all records of my past aquatic horticultural ventures. *pops a blue pill* However, the M. crenata has the smallest leaf width of the three: <= 0.25 inch. The M. minuta is the largest leaf width: <= 0.50 inch. M. crenata tolerates poor lighting much better than the others--still retaining that single-lobe leaf shape whereas the others will start throwing out the multi-lobed leaves (similar to the classic emersed shamrock leaves) that will reach for the surface.

A bit of nostalgia on naming: Years ago, Erik Leung made a name for himself by making the Marsilea family famous with his minimalistic Corydoras tank. That was Marsilea quadrifolia (drummondii?). It was VERY prolific and weedy. It just overtook my tank.

Then, rumor has it (HUSH Ms. Adele, it's not copyrighted! And quit calling me or I'll have Tangina come and seal you on the other side forever!) that there is a tinier version called Marsilea minuta. The plant came into my possession and it was a perfect substitute for glosso (which was the rage in those days!!! If you didn't have glosso, you weren't cool! So blast them lights! BLASTTTTT THEMMMM!!!). It had a slow to medium growth rate. In truth, it put out just as many nodes in a given amount of time as the M. quadrifolia but, since it is tiny, it didn't cover as much square footage and thus gave the impression of slower growth.

Anyway, why all that reminiscing? Because, sometime between then and now, I didn't keep track of the nomenclature change or whatnot. These days, M. minuta apparently refers to the larger species (what M. quadrifolia used to be) while M. crenata refers to the smallest leaf on the shortest stem. M. augustifolia is like the anorexic cousin of M. crenata--thin tear-drop-shaped leaves on lanky stems. It apparently hasn't realized that happiness is a choice: that "you can CHOOSE to eat a salad and be [freakin'] miserable, or you can order a steak and live your life."

*sighs* That Erik Leung is so dreamy. He initiated my love affair with the Corydoras pygmaeus. That picture of the cory sitting atop a Marsilea leaf. *swoons* And let's not even talk about what he did with the Cyperus helferi. Bastard!


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## WaterLife (Jul 1, 2015)

@jw.cS

I have attached a pic with three species side by side

Marsilea quadrifolia is the largest (tall and largest leaf size) of all Marsilea I believe.
Marsilea crenata I think is the smallest (this is seriously tiny in comparison) of all Marsilea (at least of the species commonly avail to the hobby).
Marsilea minuta is obviously a medium size compared to the two.

I haven't had M. hirsuta yet so I can't comment much on it, but I assume it would be similar to M. minuta in terms of size (which can vary depending on your set up), but I have heard M. hirsuta often has multiple leaves/lobes per node.


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## burr740 (Feb 19, 2014)

Which one is this?


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## Jeff5614 (Dec 29, 2005)

I've had minuta in the past and currently have crenata and hirsuta. My observations probably are not as detailed as you like and I'm sure the plant characteristics vary from tank to tank dependent on light and nutrients. 

Marsilea was, for me, the slowest growing and smallest of the three. When I say slow, it was very slow for me. Hirsuta and crenata have both been fairly fast growers. Of course my substrate and lights changed between minuta and the other two.

Minuta was the smallest followed by crenata and hirsuta. Minuta and crenata also remained fairly tight along the substrate while hirsuta is two to three inches in height. Hirsuta has a clover like appearance while minuta and crenata have the single leaf appearance like you see in Burr's pic.

Once again, nothing official here, just what I've seen in my tanks.


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## jw.cS (Jan 13, 2005)

@WaterLife has those nice pictures for comparison. �� I think he may be right because I have ordered several portions of the M. minuta from several sources and they all came a lot bigger than what I remembered. I guess my original sample was a smaller species that the sender mistakenly thought was M. minuta.

@burr740 That could be M. crenata or one of the other smaller species mentioned here. I think I read somewhere that @Cavan ( @Tinanti ) insists that we have to examine the inflorescence in order to determine the exact species. @Bartohog once told me that the M. crenata is the smallest. I have always received mine submersed so I have to trust whatever the sender claim. So I guess we'll just have to deal with small, medium or large Marsilea. 

@Jeff5614 2-3 inches tall? Was this under lower light? My larger Marsilea spp. throw out clover leaves and start shooting for the surface under lower light; but NOT the smaller species: they just start growing really slowly but still stay diminutive, never really making those clover-shaped leaves. Have no clue.

Also, IME the smaller species (whatever the name is) likes to have their rhizomes below the substrate line whereas the larger ones always creep along the substrate line regardless of whether I shove them down deep or not. They'll find their way up top whereas the smaller ones keep digging downward below the substrate line.


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## Jeff5614 (Dec 29, 2005)

[/QUOTE]@Jeff5614 2-3 inches tall? Was this under lower light? My larger Marsilea spp. throw out clover leaves and start shooting for the surface under lower light; but NOT the smaller species: they just start growing really slowly but still stay diminutive, never really making those clover-shaped leaves. Have no clue.[/QUOTE]

40 PAR or thereabout.


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## Tinanti (Aug 25, 2005)

Not inflorescences, as they are ferns. You need sporocarps, which grow at the base of emersed plants. And unless you get yours from Tropica or some source you can reasonably trust, you just can't be certain what you have, unfortunately.


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