Marsilea strigosa Willd.
Family: MARSILEACEAE
Genus: Marsilea
Province distribution: Balearic Islands. Girona.
Distribution in the islands: Mallorca. Menorca.
General distribution (Phytogeography): Mediterranean
Plants protected by law: Bern Convention. Habitat Directive.
IUCN Category: Vulnerable
Life-forms: Hydrophyte.
Habitat: Sometimes inundated soils.
Characteristics: This is one of the rarest plants in the islands. Actually it is a fern, although its appearance does not resemble it a lot. The leaves are divided into four leaflets which are found at the top of a long stalk, as if it were a four-leaved clover. It lives in temporary ponds, rooted in the sediment at the bottom but with the leaves floating on the surface. Sometimes it can be found in dry places, due to the fact that the pool has run dry. It has only been found in ponds in the South of Mallorca and the North of Menorca, and it seems to be in regression (due to droughts? to the alteration of ponds?). It cannot be mistaken for any other species, but even if it is present it is difficult to find because it can go unnoticed among the other plants at ponds.