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Spirodela | |
---|---|
Spirodela polyrrhiza | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Monocots |
Order: | Alismatales |
Family: | Araceae |
Subfamily: | Lemnoideae |
Genus: | Spirodela Schleid. 1839 |
Synonyms [1] | |
LandoltiaLes & D.J.Crawford |
Spirodela is a genus of aquatic plants, one of several genera containing plants commonly called duckweed. Spirodela species are members of the Araceae under the APG II system. They were formerly members of the Lemnaceae. [2] [3]
Spirodela species are free-floating plants that have their stem transformed into leaf-like structures called fronds; each plant is represented by a frond with roots, therefore they do not have leaves. [4] Two to five plants may remain connected to each other.
Plants are green, but may turn red due to the presence of anthocyanin. [4] Multiple roots (5 to 20, depending on the species) emerge from each frond. Spirodela is larger (10 mm (0.39 in)) than Lemna (2 mm (0.079 in) – 5 mm (0.20 in), with one root per frond). [5]
Certain species of Spirodela overwinter as turions, dormant starchy shoots [4] that lack air pockets, which sink to the bottom of the water. In spring, turions rise to the surface and germinate.
Spirodela often forms floating mats with related species (e.g. Lemna and Wolffia).
The genus is virtually cosmopolitan in distribution. [1] [5]
There are currently 2 recognized species in this genus: [6] [7]
The Araceae are a family of monocotyledonous flowering plants in which flowers are borne on a type of inflorescence called a spadix. The spadix is usually accompanied by, and sometimes partially enclosed in, a spathe. Also known as the arum family, members are often colloquially known as aroids. This family of 114 genera and about 3,750 known species is most diverse in the New World tropics, although also distributed in the Old World tropics and northern temperate regions.
Ceratophyllum is a cosmopolitan genus of flowering plants including four accepted living species in 2016, commonly found in ponds, marshes, and quiet streams in tropical and in temperate regions. It is the only extant genus in the family Ceratophyllaceae, itself the only extant family in the order Ceratophyllales. They are usually called coontails or hornworts, although hornwort is also used for unrelated plants of the division Anthocerotophyta.
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.
Aldrovanda vesiculosa, commonly known as the waterwheel plant, is the sole extant species in the flowering plant genus Aldrovanda of the family Droseraceae. The plant captures small aquatic invertebrates using traps similar to those of the Venus flytrap. The traps are arranged in whorls around a central, free-floating stem, giving rise to the common name. This is one of the few plant species capable of rapid movement.
This article gives an overview of the aquatic communities in the British National Vegetation Classification system.
Spirodela punctata is a species of duckweed (Lemnoideae). The species is morphologically intermediate between Lemna and other species of Spirodela. In 1999 D.H. Les and D.J. Crawford proposed segregating the species to a new genus Landoltia containing just the species L. punctata, on the basis of biochemical and DNA studies.
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.
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.
Lemna trisulca L. is a species of aquatic plants in the arum family Araceae. It has a subcosmopolitan distribution. Unlike other duckweeds, it has submerged rather than floating fronds, except when flowering or fruiting. Also unlike other duckweeds, a large number of fronds remain attached to each other at a time.
Cataclysta lemnata, the small china-mark, is a moth species of the family Crambidae. It is found in Europe, Morocco and Iran.
Potamogeton polygonifolius or bog pondweed is an aquatic plant. It is found in shallow, nutrient-poor, usually acid standing or running water, bogs, fens and occasionally ditches.
Potamogeton coloratus, the fen pondweed, is an aquatic plant in the genus Potamogeton. It is found in shallow peaty calcareous lakes, ponds and ditches, commonly associated with lowland fens.
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, commonly known as spotless watermeal or rootless duckweed, is a species of flowering plant in the Araceae family, which includes other water-loving plants such as Arum and Pistia. It is the smallest vascular plant on Earth. Native to Europe, Africa, and parts of Asia, it has also naturalized in various other regions around the globe.
Potamogeton obtusifolius, known as blunt-leaved pondweed, is an aquatic plant in the genus Potamogeton. It grows mainly in mesotrophic to eutrophic lakes, ponds and ditches, rarely in brackish water. It occurs primarily in Central Europe, the British Isles, Fennoscandia and eastern North America.
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.
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.
Lemna turionifera is a species of flowering plant belonging to the family Araceae.
Lemna perpusilla, the tiny duckweed or minute duckweed, is a species of aquatic flowering plant in the family Araceae. It is native to the central and eastern United States, and Quebec in Canada, and has been introduced to various locations around the world. It prefers still or very slowly moving waters.