SafePlants

Lemna minor: The Tiny World of Common Duckweed

Lemna minor, commonly known as common duckweed or lesser duckweed, is a fascinating aquatic plant renowned for its diminutive size and widespread distribution.

Considerations for Pets

• Forms thick mats that could potentially obstruct small aquatic animals.

Taxonomy and Nomenclature

• Scientific Name: Lemna minor L.
• Common Names: Common Duckweed, Lesser Duckweed, Small Duckweed, Pond Seaweed
• Family: Lemnaceae (Duckweed Family), sometimes Araceae
• Synonyms: Lemna minuta, Lemna perpusilla, Wolffia globosa

Distribution and Habitat

• Lemna minor boasts a subcosmopolitan distribution, meaning it's native to most of the world.
• It thrives in still or slow-moving bodies of water.
• Excluding hot, dry deserts, this plant is present across the world, even naturalized in North America.

Morphological Characteristics

• Individual plants are tiny, round to oval, bright green disks.
• Each frond has a single root.
• Fronds are typically 0.2-0.4 cm (0.1-0.2 inches) long.
• Can be solitary or in small clusters.

Growth Habits

• A perennial floating aquatic plant that often forms dense colonies.
• The plant body is not differentiated into stem and leaves, but rather consists of a simple, leaflike frond.
• Reproduces by budding, allowing for rapid colony formation during the summer.
• Grows quickly.

Interactions with Other Organisms

• Study done on how it uptake pesticides from water
• Studied for endophytic bacterial communities

Historical Uses

• In antiquity, Dioscorides recommended duckweed in compress form for treating infections and gout, referring to it as "pond seaweed."

Further Information

• USDA Plants Database
• Minnesota C-Value: 5