Report Text : Clover (Marsilea crenata)

Clover is a group of water spikes (Salviniales) of the genus Marsilea, which in Indonesia are easily found on the edge of the rice field or irrigation channels.Description according to the book of flora (Steenis, et al. 2005) clover is a plant with leaves standing alone or in a file, petiole length and erect 2-30 cm long, crosses the child leaves, opposite, wedge-shaped round egg, bald or nearly bald, with a length of 3-22 cm and 2-18 cm board, fan-shaped tendon leaves the meeting, the water that does not appear above the water.

 

All members heterospor and having two different types of sexual spores. The big spores many have food reseve it named macrospores/megaspore. There is a small spores it named microspores from microsporangium.

The leaves of this plant (usually Marsilea crenata) commonly used as a food that is known as pecel clover, typical of the Surabaya area. Spore storage organs called sporokarp. Marsilea drummondii is also used by indigenous Australians (Aborigines). Marsilea crenata is known to contain phytoestrogen (plant estrogen) that has the potential to prevent osteoporesis. This plant is also a potential bioremediation plants, being able to absorb heavy metals Cd and Pb. This ability is compromised in the use of clover as a food ingredient, especially when the leaves are drawn from heavy metal contaminated land.