Wolffia borealis

Last updated

Wolffia borealis
Wolffia borealis.jpg
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Alismatales
Family: Araceae
Genus: Wolffia
Species:
W. borealis
Binomial name
Wolffia borealis
(Engelm. ex Hegelm.) Landolt ex Landolt & Wildi

Wolffia borealis is a species of flowering plant known by the common name northern watermeal. It is native to North America including sections of Canada and the United States. It grows in mats on the surface of calm water bodies, such as ponds. It is a very tiny plant with no leaves, stems, or roots. The green part is up to 1.2 millimeters long with one rounded end and one pointed end. On the flattened top of the plant is a single stamen and pistil. Like other Wolffia, it is edible and makes a nutritious food.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern shrike</span> Species of bird

The northern shrike is a large songbird species in the shrike family (Laniidae) native to North America and Siberia. Long considered a subspecies of the great grey shrike, it was classified as a distinct species in 2017. Six subspecies are recognised.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arctic warbler</span> Species of migratory leaf warbler

The Arctic warbler is a widespread leaf warbler in birch or mixed birch forest near water throughout its breeding range in Fennoscandia and the northern Palearctic. It has established a foothold in North America, breeding in Alaska. This warbler is strongly migratory; the entire population winters in southeast Asia. It therefore has one of the longest migrations of any Old World insectivorous bird.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cory's shearwater</span> Species of bird

Cory's shearwater is a large shearwater in the seabird family Procellariidae. It breeds colonially of rocky islands in the eastern Atlantic. Outside the breeding season it ranges widely in the Atlantic. It was formerly considered to be conspecific with Scopoli's shearwater.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eskimo curlew</span> Species of bird

The Eskimo curlew, also known as the northern curlew, is a species of curlew in the family Scolopacidae. It was one of the most numerous shorebirds in the tundra of western Arctic Canada and Alaska. Thousands of birds were then killed per year in the late 1800s. As there has not been a reliable sighting since 1987 or a confirmed sighting since 1963, the Eskimo curlew is considered Critically Endangered or possibly extinct. The bird was about 30 cm (12 in) long and fed mostly on insects and berries.

<i>Clintonia</i> Genus of flowering plants

Clintonia is a genus of flowering plants in the lily family Liliaceae. Plants of the genus are distributed across the temperate regions of North America and eastern Asia, in the mesic understory of deciduous or coniferous forests. The genus, first described by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque in 1818, was named for DeWitt Clinton (1769–1828), a naturalist and politician from the U.S. state of New York. For this reason, plants of the genus are commonly known as Clinton's lily. The common name bluebead refer to the distinctive fruit of members of the genus. Since fruit color varies somewhat across species, the common name bead lily is used as well.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern bog lemming</span> Species of mammal

The northern bog lemming is a small North American lemming. It is one of two species in the genus Synaptomys, the other being the southern bog lemming.

<i>Clintonia borealis</i> Species of flowering plant

Clintonia borealis is a species of flowering plant in the lily family Liliaceae. The specific epithet borealis means "of the north," which alludes to the fact that the species tends to thrive in the boreal forests of eastern Canada and northeastern United States.

<i>Wolffia</i> Genus of aquatic plants

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. Individuals often float together in pairs or form floating mats with related plants, such as Lemna and Spirodela species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Snow sheep</span> Species of mammal

The snow sheep, or Siberian bighorn sheep, is a species of sheep from the mountainous areas in the northeast of Siberia. One subspecies, the Putorana snow sheep (Ovis nivicola borealis), lives isolated from the other forms in the Putoran Mountains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White-eared hummingbird</span>

The white-eared hummingbird is a species of hummingbird in the "emeralds", tribe Trochilini of subfamily Trochilinae. It is found from the southwestern U.S. to Nicaragua.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eastern red bat</span> Species of bat

The eastern red bat is a species of microbat in the family Vespertilionidae. Eastern red bats are widespread across eastern North America, with additional records in Bermuda.

<i>Bombus melanopygus</i> North American bumblebee

Bombus melanopygus, the black-tailed bumble bee, black tail bumble bee or orange-rumped bumblebee, is a species of bumblebee native to western North America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wildlife of South Africa</span> Flora and fauna of the country

The wildlife of South Africa consists of the flora and fauna of this country in southern Africa. The country has a range of different habitat types and an ecologically rich and diverse wildlife, vascular plants being particularly abundant, many of them endemic to the country. There are few forested areas, much savanna grassland, semi-arid Karoo vegetation and the fynbos of the Cape Floristic Region. Famed for its national parks and big game, 297 species of mammal have been recorded in South Africa, as well as 849 species of bird and over 20,000 species of vascular plants.

<i>Wolffia columbiana</i> Species of aquatic plant

Wolffia columbiana, the Columbian watermeal, is a perennial aquatic plant in the subfamily Lemnoideae. This plant is distributed widely throughout North, Central, and South America, and also occurs in Curaçao.

<i>Wolffia arrhiza</i> Species of flowering plant in the family Araceae

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. It is an aquatic plant which grows in quiet water bodies such as ponds. The green part of the plant, the frond, is a sphere measuring about 1 mm wide, but with a flat top that floats at the water's surface. It has a few parallel rows of stomata. There is no root. The plant produces a minute flower fully equipped with one stamen and one pistil. It often multiplies by vegetative reproduction, however, with the rounded part budding off into a new individual. In cooler conditions the plant becomes dormant and sinks to the bed of the water body to overwinter as a turion. The plant is a mixotroph which can produce its own energy by photosynthesis or absorb it from the environment in the form of dissolved carbon.

<i>Wolffia globosa</i> Species of flowering plant in the family Araceae

Wolffia globosa is a species of flowering plant known by the common names Asian watermeal and duckweed. It is native to Asia and is found in parts of the Americas and Africa, where it is an introduced species. It grows in mats on the surface of calm, freshwater bodies, such as ponds, lakes, and marshes. It is a very tiny, oval-shaped plant with no leaves, stems, or roots. The body of the plant, a transparent green frond, is less than a millimeter wide. In one human experiment, processed W. globosa was reported to provide dietary protein and vitamin B12.

<i>Cypripedium passerinum</i> Species of orchid

Cypripedium passerinum is a species of lady's slipper orchid known by the common names sparrow's-egg lady's-slipper, spotted lady's-slipper, and Franklin's lady's-slipper.

Wolffia angusta is a species of flowering plant in the family Araceae. It has been listed by the Guinness Book of World Records as the smallest flowering plant on record, measuring 0.6 millimetres (0.0236 in) in length and 0.33 mm (0.013 in) in width. However, more recently Wolffia globosa has been described as the smallest, at 0.1–0.2 mm (0.004–0.008 in) in diameter.

<i>Bombus borealis</i> Species of bee

Bombus borealis is a species of bumblebee known commonly as the northern amber bumblebee. It is native to northern North America, where it occurs across Canada and Alaska and the northern and eastern contiguous United States.

References

  1. Maiz-Tome, L. (2016). "Wolffia borealis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2016: e.T64326301A67731252. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-1.RLTS.T64326301A67731252.en . Retrieved 19 November 2021.