Dwarf Four Leaf Clover (Marsilea hirsuta) - Potted

Dwarf Four Leaf Clover (Marsilea hirsuta) is not actually a clover, it is an aquatic fern that happens to grow four-lobed leaves on short stalks. It is one of the most forgiving carpeting plants available, spreading by runners across the substrate at a pace that stays manageable in a low-tech tank. If dwarf hairgrass and baby tears have burned you before, this is the carpet to try instead. Browse the rest of our live freshwater plants.

Sold as a nursery pot in rock wool, ready to split into many small portions for planting out.

Care Guide

Why Dwarf Four Leaf Clover

• A low-tech carpet that actually works. It will fill in without CO2, which is more than dwarf baby tears or Monte Carlo can promise.
• Spreads on its own. Runners creep sideways under the substrate and pop up new leaves, so a single pot seeds a whole foreground over time.
• Changes shape with your light. Low light gives you the tall four-leaf clover look. High light flattens it into small round single leaves that hug the substrate.
• Tough roots. Once established the runner network holds substrate in place and resists being dug up by cories and shrimp.
• Shrimp and snail safe. Dense low growth is prime grazing territory for Neocaridina.

How to Plant

1. Slip the plant out of the pot and rinse the rock wool off the roots completely.
2. Separate it into small portions of two or three stalks each using tweezers.
3. Plant the portions about an inch apart across the foreground, roots buried and the leaf stalks above the substrate.
4. Add root tabs under the planting area. This is a root feeder and it fills in noticeably faster with them.
5. Keep taller plants trimmed back so nothing shades the carpet. Shade is the usual reason a Marsilea carpet stalls or grows leggy.

Recommended Pairings

• Aquarium Co-Op Easy Root Tabs, the fastest way to get a carpet moving.
• CaribSea Eco-Complete, a nutrient-rich substrate for runner-spreading plants.
• Monte Carlo and Dwarf Hairgrass, other foreground textures to blend at the edges.
• Crypt Parva, a slow foreground crypt that layers nicely behind a Marsilea carpet.
• More freshwater plants and water care to round out the scape.

FAQ

My leaves came in with only one lobe, not four. What happened?
Nothing is wrong. Marsilea changes leaf form with light. Under strong light it grows short single-lobed leaves that look like tiny lily pads. Dim the light and the classic four-leaf shape returns on new growth.

Do I need CO2 to carpet it?
No. It is one of the few true carpets that fills in without CO2. Expect months rather than weeks in a low-tech tank.

Why is mine growing tall and stringy?
Not enough light reaching the substrate. Either raise the intensity or trim back whatever is shading it.

Is it really a clover?
No. It is a fern, in the family Marsileaceae. It reproduces by spores rather than flowers, and the four-lobed leaf is pure coincidence.

Will shrimp or snails eat it?
No. The leaves are tough and shrimp treat the carpet as a grazing surface for biofilm rather than food.