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Northern watermeal

Wolffia borealis

Also called Dotted Watermeal, Northern Duckmeal, Watermeal

Northern watermeal
Photo: Andrey Zharkikh from Salt Lake City, USA, CC BY 2.0
Family
Araceae (Arum family)
Grows as
Aquatic
Edible
Yes, some parts
Native range
S. Canada to U.S.A.
Climate
temperate

About

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.

Other Wolffia plants

Narrow Duckweed · Spotless watermeal · Wolffia australiana · Brazilian watermeal · Columbian watermeal · Wolffia elongata · Asian watermeal · Watermeal

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Wolffia borealis by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.

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.

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