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Lemna minuta
Also called Minute Duckweed
Least duckweed is a tiny free-floating aquatic plant, the smallest Lemna species, that forms dense green mats on calm fresh water. It is grown mainly as a pond or aquarium cover and spreads very quickly.
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.
This tiny plant varies in shape depending on growth conditions. In the shade it is a single green translucent oval body no more than 2.5 millimeters long, and in full sunlight it generally grows in pairs. There is a central vein usually visible under magnification and microscopy. The plant produces an ephemeral membrane-bound flower.
Lesser duckweed · Swollen duckweed · Common duckweed · Minute duckweed · Star duckweed · Turion duckweed · Valdivia duckweed · Plants
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Lemna minuta by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
