Lemna minor L. - Common Duckweed


 

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Lemna minor - (image 1 of 3)

 

Taxonomy

Family: Lemnaceae

Habitat

Ponds, shallow water of lakes, slow moving streams and rivers, ditches.

Associates

 

Distribution

Widespread; nearly cosmopolitan.

Morphology

Fronds without proximal papules, or with papules smaller than the distal ones, rotund or elliptic or obovate, nearly symmetrical, mostly more than 1.5 mm wide, often in groups of 2-5, often with reddish punctae (spots) or tinges below and green above or anthocyanic on both sides, flat to slightly concave on both sides, with 2-4 lateral nerves; air spaces in fronds less than 0.3 mm in diameter; roots mostly more than 3 cm long with blunt tips. Spathes sac-like, open at the top only. Fruit not winged; seeds solitary, smooth or inconspicuously ribbed.   

Notes

Flowers July to September.

Wetland indicator: Obligate

The body of a duckweed may be referred to as a frond or as a thallus. Flowers not often observed. Spreads rapidly by division.

References

Gleason, Henry A. and A. Cronquist. 1991. Manual of Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada. Second Ed.
The New York Botanical Garden. Bronx, NY.

 

Swink, F. and G. Wilhelm. 1994. Plants of the Chicago Region.
Indiana Academy of Science. The Morton Arboretum. Lisle, Illinois.

 
 


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 Michael Hough © 2010