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Marsilea drummondii; photograph (c) Petra Holland, some rights reserved (CC BY) CC BY(c) Petra Holland, some rights reserved (CC BY) · observed growing wild · 2026-08-22

Marsilea drummondii A.Braun

Nardoo; Common nardoo

Marsileaceae · New South Wales, Northern Territory +4 · listed by its genus as a fern or moss

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Marsilea drummondii, photograph (c) Petra Holland, some rights reserved (CC BY)Marsilea drummondii, photograph (c) Petra Holland, some rights reserved (CC BY)Marsilea drummondii, photograph (c) Petra Holland, some rights reserved (CC BY)Marsilea drummondii, photograph (c) Petra Holland, some rights reserved (CC BY)Marsilea drummondii, photograph (c) Petra Holland, some rights reserved (CC BY)Marsilea drummondii, photograph (c) Petra Holland, some rights reserved (CC BY) 85 photographs ›
Habitat figures
Cold floor (1 night in 100)
0.2°C
Record low -2.9 °C in 44 years, at a typical spot in the range NASA POWER
Warmest month, mean daily high
32°C
Jan at the habitat CHELSA
Rain a year (median across the range)
409mm
12 months of 25 mm or more in the median year CHELSA
Open-sky light
16–50DLI
Lowest to highest month (DLI) CHELSA
The year in your months, northern hemisphere
  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec
Rain spread: 70% of the median year's rain takes 8 months, so no short rainy season. rain rule, CHELSA
Northern hemisphere unless you set your site. The chart is in the habitat's months.

Summary

Marsilea drummondii is a species of fern known by the common name nardoo (Diyari: ngardu). It is native to Australia, where it is widespread and common, particularly in inland regions. It is a rhizomatous perennial aquatic fern that roots in mud substrates and produces herbage that floats on the surface of quiet water bodies. It occurs in water up to one metre deep. More on Wikipedia ›

Quoted from Wikipedia, "Marsilea drummondii", CC BY-SA 4.0.

Cultivation

Grouped as a fern or moss, listed under the genus Marsilea in the archetype table, and Kew describes it as “perennial or rhizomatous geophyte”.

Seasons

The rain rule reads no short rainy season: 70% of the median year's rain (272 mm of 382 mm) takes 8 months, February to March, May to July and October to December. Mean temperature moves 15.9 °C between the warmest and coldest month. Months are the habitat's, southern hemisphere; shifted six months for a northern-hemisphere collection: November to January, April to June and August to September.

Rain

382 mm in the median year at the habitat, 272 mm of it February to March, May to July and October to December. Wettest months (2 at 37 mm), driest month April at 25 mm. Across the grid cells of the range the year's total runs 244 mm to 584 mm, the 10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year. The median of the cells' own yearly totals, 409 mm, is the year's rain at the top of the page; the 382 mm here is the median year's, the twelve monthly medians added, which the rain rule reads. Habitat calendar, southern hemisphere; median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA.

Light

Open sky over the habitat: 16 to 50 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 13, the highest 90th-percentile month 51).

Warmth and air
Temperature

Coldest: the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at a typical spot in the range is 0.2 °C, the absolute minimum -2.9 °C, 126 frost nights in 44 years, 2.9 a year (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 42.9 °C. Monthly means: the coldest month's mean nightly low 5.7 °C in July (across the grid cells of the range 4.7 °C to 7.2 °C), the warmest month's mean daily high 31.9 °C in January (median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). Cold floor: 0.2 °C, which is the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at a typical spot in the range (NASA POWER).

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 47 to 59% across the year (monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

How this section is made

Each card states this species' habitat figures with their sources, and what two fixed rules read from them; nothing here says what the plant does, wants or tolerates. The rules · the terms.

Seasons. Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the grid cells of the range: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve moves 4 °C or more and the habitat lies 10° or more from the equator. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain. CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the grid cells of the range. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light. CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Temperature. NASA POWER daily minima and maxima over 44 years at a typical spot in the range, lapse-corrected -3 m to its elevation; CHELSA monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range. The cold floor is the 1st-percentile night named in its sentence. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity. CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the grid cells of the range.

Group. Listed under the genus Marsilea in the archetype table, and Kew describes it as “perennial or rhizomatous geophyte”. A group is taken only where Kew's description of the species agrees with the table's listing. The table gives no figure and no prose; the cold floor is the habitat's alone.

Climate across the habitat

Habitat months, southern hemisphere

Habitat climate of Marsilea drummondii through the yearWarmest month January, mean daily high 32 °C; coldest month July, mean nightly low 5.7 °C; 382 mm of rain in the median year (the twelve monthly medians added). Medians across the range, from CHELSA; the extremes at the edge from NASA POWER. Habitat months, southern hemisphere.-10°0°10°20°30°40°50°frost42.9° 99th-percentile day, NASA POWER-2.9° lowest night in 44 years, NASA POWER°C · day and nightcold quarter0255075mm rainDLI 16–50RH 47–59%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain medians and 10th–90th percentile across 1206 habitat cells, CHELSA cold quarter: the three months around the coldest month's mean nightly low extremes over 44 years at a typical spot in the range, from NASA POWER, marked at the edge, in no month DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C32 / 29–3631 / 29–3528 / 25–3223 / 21–2719 / 17–2216 / 14–1915 / 13–1817 / 14–2120 / 17–2524 / 20–2927 / 24–3230 / 26–34
Night °C19 / 16–2419 / 16–2316 / 14–2013 / 11–169 / 8–117 / 6–86 / 5–77 / 6–99 / 7–1212 / 9–1615 / 12–1917 / 14–22
Rain mm27 / 18–7231 / 19–6529 / 16–4525 / 11–4035 / 17–4437 / 14–5137 / 15–5029 / 8–4629 / 10–4333 / 16–5035 / 22–6235 / 22–69
DLI50 / 46–5145 / 41–4638 / 35–4128 / 25–3320 / 17–2516 / 13–2118 / 14–2323 / 20–2932 / 28–3841 / 37–4546 / 44–4850 / 47–51
RH %47 / 43–5349 / 45–5450 / 45–5352 / 47–5556 / 51–5959 / 53–6258 / 52–6255 / 48–6053 / 45–5850 / 43–5549 / 43–5347 / 43–52
How this section is made
Each figure is the median across the 1206 grid cells holding the 1627 in-range records, with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. A dash is a month one or more of those cells has no figure for in the grid (a variable CHELSA does not carry there), so no median is taken rather than one over fewer cells. Extremes and elevation were read at a typical spot in the range, cell 2419:6549 (-30.975, 147.475). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum -2.9 °C, 1st-percentile night 0.2 °C, 99th-percentile day 42.9 °C. Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Across the range: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 1206 distinct grid cells holding 1627 of the 1627 in-range records; extremes and elevation at the typical cell 2419:6549 (its coldest month's mean nightly low nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell -31.00_147.500, lapse-corrected -3 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 154 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across the cells of the in-range records placed well enough to read one, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.
NativeNew South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia · introduced: France, Thailand · regions are the level-3 units of the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, as Kew's World Checklist records ranges, some under historical names such as Yugoslavia or Czechoslovakia (how).
Map marker-35.838, 145.285 · in the densest population, 761 records (45% of those in range)
Kew's description“perennial or rhizomatous geophyte” · “seasonally dry tropical” · quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Evidence usedThe map marker rests on all 1683 georeferenced records inside the native range; the climate across the range on the 1627 of them placed to within 10 km; the map shows only the 1629 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 2 km away. 6 records outside the WCVP native range not used. 56 in-range records are placed to worse than 10 km, or with no stated accuracy (admitted only as a person's observation to three decimals), and stay on the map but off the climate.
How this section is made
The map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population inside the densest 2° block of the 1683 in-range records; it decides nothing. Records outside the native range, living specimens and records marked introduced are not used; which records count.

Photographs

Marsilea drummondii, photograph 1did not loadMarsilea drummondii, photograph 2did not loadMarsilea drummondii, photograph 3did not loadMarsilea drummondii, photograph 4did not loadMarsilea drummondii, photograph 5did not loadMarsilea drummondii, photograph 6did not load

Photographs: (c) Petra Holland, some rights reserved (CC BY) (6).

Similar habitat climate The 6 nearest by mean daily high, mean nightly low and rain, month by month. How.

Duma florulenta Duma florulenta Tangled Lignum Photo: CC BY, Jared ShormaTeucrium racemosum Teucrium racemosum Grey Germander Photo: CC BY, krumpiankingEnteropogon acicularis Enteropogon acicularis Curly windmill grass Photo: CC BY, Harry RoseBossiaea walkeri Bossiaea walkeri Cactus bossiaea Photo: CC0, garrytreCalotis scapigera Calotis scapigera Asteraceae Photo: CC BY, Thomas MesaglioBromus arenarius Bromus arenarius Australian brome Photo: CC BY, swainsona1

Other Marsilea 12 in the reference

Marsilea ancylopoda Marsilea ancylopoda Tropical waterclover Photo: CC BY, Franco RichieriMarsilea batardae Marsilea batardae Lusitanian Water Clover Photo: CC BY, zebedeugalinhaMarsilea crenata Marsilea crenata Nardoo Photo: CC BY, Belinda ForbesMarsilea hirsuta Marsilea hirsuta Rough waterclover Photo: CC BY-SA, Greg TasneyMarsilea macropoda Marsilea macropoda Bigfoot waterclover Photo: CC BY, Chet BurrierMarsilea minuta Marsilea minuta Dwarf waterclover Photo: CC0, author not statedMarsilea mutica Marsilea mutica Australian water-clover Photo: CC BY, Reid HardinMarsilea quadrifolia Marsilea quadrifolia European water-clover Photo: CC BY, yajapinMarsilea schelpeana Marsilea schelpeana Cutleaf clover Photo: CC BY-SA, Andrew HankeyMarsilea strigosa Marsilea strigosa Marsileaceae Photo: CC BY, Santiago Martín-BravoMarsilea vestita Marsilea vestita Hairy water-clover Photo: CC BY, Sam KieschnickMarsilea villosa Marsilea villosa 'Ihi'ihi Photo: CC BY, Kevin Faccenda

Names & registers

Also known as Marsilea drummondii f. macra; Marsilea drummondii var. elata; Marsilea drummondii var. hirsutissima; Marsilea drummondii var. howittiana; Marsilea drummondii var. macra and 22 more. (GBIF Backbone)

GBIFPOWOIPNIWFOWikidataWikipediaiNaturalist

The record

Family
Marsileaceae
Described by
A.Braun
Native to
New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland +3
Wild records
1683 in range · 1629 open

Every figure here is derived from public data by a stated rule and names its source; nothing about this species is written for its page by a person or by AI, apart from the marked, credited quotations. How →

Where this page came from built 2026-10-22
GBIF species record gbif.species answeredasked 2026-10-22
GBIF synonyms gbif.synonyms answeredasked 2026-10-22
GBIF common names gbif.vernacular answeredasked 2026-10-22names fetched 2026-10-22
WCVP native range wcvp.distribution answeredas of 2026-06-04
GBIF occurrence records gbif.occurrences answeredas of 2026-10-21GBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.hbdw64, of 2026-10-21; 4 records within 1 km of a botanic garden, herbarium or zoo left out (1 at a botanic garden or arboretum, 3 at a zoo; Wikidata's list)
Habitat climate climate answeredasked 2026-10-22
Daily extremes (NASA POWER) climate.extremes answeredasked 2026-10-22NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell -31.00_147.500, lapse-corrected -3 m at 6.5 °C/km
Wikidata wikidata answeredasked 2026-10-22
Wikipedia wikipedia answeredasked 2026-10-22
iNaturalist photographs, wild inat.photos.wild answeredasked 2026-10-22from iNaturalist's open data of 2026-09-27: research-grade observations with an open-licence photograph, the 24 whose photographs iNaturalist received last (the open data holds no votes); filled 2026-10-22
iNaturalist photographs, cultivated inat.photos.cultivated not asked
GBIF media gbif.media answeredasked 2026-10-22
OpenAlex papers openalex not askednot yet asked for this reference; a later fill takes the papers from OpenAlex's snapshot

Every source is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, refused, failed, not been asked, or answered twice where one answer is taken (“not taken: two items answered”), and, for a source asked when this page was built, when: the figures are as the source held them that day; a source read from a file (Kew's World Checklist, a GBIF download) says "as of" the file's day instead; a row carried from an earlier build of the page names that build instead. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 35 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.

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