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common duckweed
Scientific Name: Lemna minor
Family: Lemnaceae
Category: Monocot
Growth: Forb/herb
Duration: Perennial
Other Names:
Common Duckweed (Lemna minor)
Common Duckweed, also known as Lesser Duckweed, is a tiny, free-floating aquatic plant found in various freshwater habitats around the world.
Considerations for Pets
- This plant is commonly found in ponds and water features, which may be accessible to pets.
Considerations for Children
- Common Duckweed forms a mat of minute foliage on the water surface, which might be tempting for children to touch or play with.
Nomenclature and Taxonomy
- Scientific Name: Lemna minor
- Common Names: Common Duckweed, Lesser Duckweed, Duck's Meat, Lenticule
- Family: Araceae (previously Lemnaceae - Duckweed Family)
- Synonyms: Lemna minuta, L. gibba, Lemna komuni, Spirodela Polyrhiza, Fu Ping, Lemna polyrhiza, Lemna aequinoctialis Welw
Distribution and Habitat
- Lemna minor has a subcosmopolitan distribution and is native throughout most of the world.
- It is commonly found in ponds, marshes, lakes, and quiet streams.
- It thrives in still water habitats.
- Specific locations mentioned include the Tushar Mountains of southern Utah (USA), Canada, the United States, and Cape Palmerston National Park in Queensland, Australia.
Ecological Role
- Common Duckweed can spread rapidly.
- It can deprive ponds of oxygen, potentially leading to the death of fish and other aquatic life.
Morphological Characteristics
- It is a very small light green, free-floating, seed-bearing aquatic perennial plant.
- Each plant has 1 to 3 leaves, or fronds, of 1/16 to 1/8 inch in length.
- It has a single root.
- The plant consists of a single oval or oval-obovate thallus (a body that combines the functions of leaf and stem) that is about 2-5 mm in size.
- Fronds are pale green, rounded to oval, 1.5 mm, opaque, floating, flat, and 3-veined.
- Fronds are linked by an inconspicuous stalk or separate.
- During the summer, it often forms dense colonies of plants from budding.
- During the cooler weather of fall, it produces small starchy buds called 'turions'.
Additional Information
- Lemna minor is a perennial plant hardy to zone (UK) 4 and is not frost tender.
- It flowers from June to July.
- The flowers are monoecious (individual flowers are either male or female, but both sexes can be found on the same plant).
Quirky Facts
- The name Lemna comes from the Greek word for "water-plant," and minor means "lesser."
Further Information
- Learn more on ARKive (website).
- USDA Plants Database.
- Wikimedia Commons (for images).
- Discover Life (website).
- Elizabeth Cole, College of DuPage.