Water Clover

original: 萍菜 (Pingcai); Scientifically known as Marsilea quadrifolia, an aquatic fern that resembles a four-leaf clover. It is distinct from common duckweed.

Water Clover is recorded in the Compendium of Materia Medica; term: Bencao Gangmu, the definitive pharmaceutical encyclopedia of the Ming Dynasty, compiled by Li Shizhen. it is vulgarly called "Spicy Rice Seed." original: 辣米子 (Lami zi). It is found frequently in fields and wild areas. No one ever plants or cultivates it, for it is entirely a wild vegetable.

The Gazetteer of Jiangxi A regional record of the history and products of Jiangxi Province. records that Master Zhu Referring to Zhu Xi (1130–1200), the influential Neo-Confucian philosopher who often lived in Jiangxi. used this plant as a vegetable. Consequently, the people there boast of it as a rare and wondrous delicacy, claiming it only grows in the cleanest headwaters and is not commonly found. This, however, is merely hearsay. original: 耳食之論 (ershi zhi lun), literally "the theory of eating with one's ears," meaning to believe rumors without personal investigation.

In my own hometown, people pick this plant and pickle it to make fermented preserves. term: 菹 (Zu), an ancient term for salted or fermented vegetables. It is remarkably clean, has a sharp, spicy bite, and is pleasantly chewy. Though it is but a lonely, tiny herb, original: 伶仃小草 (lingding xiaocao). when compared to Shepherd's Purse, original: 薺 (Ji); the plant described on the previous page. they each hold their own ground—one for its spiciness and the other for its sweetness.

However, while Shepherd's Purse is not picky about where it grows, this plant grows only in the open wilderness. It delights in purity and detests turbidity; in this regard, the claims about its nature are indeed true.