Lemna is a genus of free-floating aquatic plants referred to by the common name "duckweed". They are morphologically divergent members of the arum family Araceae. These rapidly growing plants have found uses as a model system for studies in community ecology, basic plant biology, ecotoxicology, and production of biopharmaceuticals, and as a source of animal feeds for agriculture and aquaculture. Currently, 14 species of Lemna are recognised.
Wolffia is a genus of aquatic plants with a cosmopolitan distribution. They include the smallest flowering plants on Earth. Commonly called watermeal or duckweed, these aquatic plants resemble specks of cornmeal floating on the water. They often float together in pairs or form floating mats with related plants, such as Lemna and Spirodela species.
Caucalis platycarpos is a species of flowering plant in the family Apiaceae, the only member of the genus Caucalis. Common names are carrot bur parsley, small bur-parsley, and burr parsley. It is native to Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East as far east as Iran.
Comarum palustre, known by the common name marsh cinquefoil, also purple marshlocks and swamp cinquefoil, is a waterside rhizomatous subshrub. It has a circumboreal distribution, occurring throughout cool temperate Asia, Europe, and North America, particularly in northern regions. It is most commonly found on lake shores, marshy riversides and stream margins, often partly submerged with foliage floating. It is a parent of some Fragaria–Comarum hybrids, ornamental plants produced by crossing with strawberries.
Lemna minor, the common duckweed or lesser duckweed, is a species of aquatic freshwater plant in the subfamily Lemnoideae of the arum family Araceae. L. minor is used as animal fodder, bioremediator, for wastewater nutrient recovery, and other applications.
Potamogeton perfoliatus is a perennial aquatic plant in the family Potamogetonaceae occurring in both standing and flowing freshwater habitats. It is widely distributed globally, occurring in all continents except South America and Antarctica.
Lemna gibba, the gibbous duckweed, swollen duckweed, or fat duckweed, is a species of Lemna (duckweed). It has a simple plant body, known as a thallus, which floats on the surface of the water and measures 3–5 mm (0.12–0.20 in) in diameter. A single root hangs down into the water. Found in a wide range of still or slow-flowing water bodies, this common duckweed can also grow on mud or damp rocks.
Lemna minuta is a species of duckweed known by the common name least duckweed. It is the smallest Lemna species. It is native to parts of the Americas, and naturalized in others; the exact native range is not known. It is found on other continents as a non-native introduction as well. The plant's distribution is ever-expanding; it has been spreading in Europe and it was described from Poland for the first time in 2007. In many areas it is a noxious weed, such as in Belgium.
Lemna valdiviana is a species of duckweed known by the common name Valdivia duckweed. It is native to much of the Americas. It is a minute flowering plant which grows in mats on the surface of calm bodies of freshwater. The individual plant is a flat, translucent, pale green oval body 2 to 4 millimeters long. There is a longitudinal vein visible under magnification and microscopy. The body produces a root which may exceed a centimeter in length, and a tiny, ephemeral flower which is often encapsulated in a membrane. The plant often grows in clusters of two to seven individuals.
Potamogeton alpinus is a species of perennial aquatic plant known by the common names alpine pondweed and red pondweed. It is widespread in the northern hemisphere in both rivers and lakes with good water quality.
Potamogeton gramineus is a species of aquatic plant known by the common name various-leaved pondweed, variableleaf pondweed, grass-leaved pondweed or grassy pondweed, native to the northern hemisphere where it grows in shallow, clean water.
Potamogeton nodosus is a species of aquatic plant known by the common names longleaf pondweed and Loddon pondweed. It is native to Eurasia and the Americas, where it is widespread and can be found in water bodies such as ponds, lakes, ditches, and streams. This is a perennial herb producing a thin, branching stem easily exceeding a meter in maximum length. The submerged leaves are linear to widely lance-shaped and up to 15 by 4 centimetres in length and width, respectively, while the floating leaves achieve shorter maximum lengths and are ovate or elliptic. Both floating leaves and submerged leaves are borne on long petioles, a distinguishing characteristic. The inflorescence is a spike of many small flowers arising from the water on a peduncle.
Spirodela polyrhiza is a species of duckweed known by the common names common duckmeat, greater duckweed, great duckmeat, common duckweed, and duckmeat. It can be found nearly worldwide in many types of freshwater habitat.
Wolffia arrhiza is a species of flowering plant known by the common names spotless watermeal and rootless duckweed, belonging to the Araceae, a family rich in water-loving species, such as Arum and Pistia. It is the smallest vascular plant on Earth. It is native to Europe, Africa, and parts of Asia, and it is present in other parts of the world as a naturalized species.
Scirpus ancistrochaetus is a rare species of flowering plant in the sedge family known by the common names barbedbristle bulrush and northeastern bulrush. It is native to the northeastern United States from New Hampshire south to Virginia. It used to be found in Quebec but it is now thought to be extirpated there. It was also believed extirpated from the state of New York, but at least one population has been rediscovered in Steuben County in 2010. It is threatened by the loss and degradation of its wetland habitat. It is a federally listed endangered species.
Lemnoideae is a subfamily of flowering aquatic plants, known as duckweeds, water lentils, or water lenses. They float on or just beneath the surface of still or slow-moving bodies of fresh water and wetlands. Also known as bayroot, they arose from within the arum or aroid family (Araceae), so often are classified as the subfamily Lemnoideae within the family Araceae. Other classifications, particularly those created prior to the end of the twentieth century, place them as a separate family, Lemnaceae.
Norio Tanaka is an aquatic botanist at Tsukuba Botanical Garden, National Science Museum, Tokyo, Japan.
Lemna aequinoctialis, the lesser duckweed, is a tiny, floating aquatic plant in the aroid family, found in quiet, still waters of the Southern U.S., as well as México and some Caribbean Islands. Additionally, it can be found from the state of Virginia south through Florida, north to Nebraska and even into southern Wisconsin. It is also widespread in the American Southwest, from Texas to the coast of California, preferring lagoons and still ponds, which it accesses via seasonal flooding and occasional precipitation. Fronds are generally triple-nerved, green, and measure up-to 6 mm long. Flowers are single-ovulate, with a small utricular scale open on one side. Seeds have 8–26 ribs.
Najas tenuis is a species of aquatic plant found in freshwater habitats, especially still or slow-moving waters, like ponds and rice fields.
Lemna turionifera is a species of flowering plant belonging to the family Araceae.
