Weed Information: Lemna minor (duckweed, common)
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Lemna minor (duckweed, common)

Family: Lemnaceae

Description

Tiny floating plants, each with a single root (if more than one root per plant see Spirodela). One of the most common and smallest aquatic plants throughout much of North America. Flowers are seldom seen, due both to size and infrequent production.

Characteristics

Flower Color
  • Green
Inflorescence Type (How the flowers are arranged on the plant)
  • Axillary cluster
Number of Petals
  • 0 (no petals)
Flower Symmetry
  • Flowers regular
Flower Length (Head length in the Asteraceae)
  • < 1 mm (< .04 inch)
Flower Width (Head width in the Asteraceae)
  • < 1 mm (< .04 inch)
Number of Sepals
  • sepals lacking
Flower Sex
  • Unisexual (monoecious or dioecious)
Number of Styles
  • Styles lacking (male flowers only)
  • 1 style
Number of Stamens
  • stamens lacking (female flowers only)
  • 1 stamen
  • 2 stamens
Stamens Attached to the Petals
  • Stamens NOT attached to the petals
Stamens Connate (united)
  • Filaments or anthers NOT united

Carpel Separation
  • Carpels united (or one)
Number of Carpels
  • 0 (male flowers only or plants producing spores)
  • 1 carpel
Ovary Position
  • Superior (hypogynous)
Fruit Type
  • Utricle
Fruit Length at Maturity
  • 1 mm (.04 inch) or less
Fruit Width at Maturity
  • 1 mm (.04 inch) or less
Burs
  • Fruit or seed NOT bur-like

Leaf Arrangement
  • All basal
  • Opposite
  • Fascicled
Leaf Type
  • Simple (including lobed leaves)
Stipules
  • Lacking
Tendrils
  • Tendrils absent
Venation
  • Arcuate
Petiole (leaf stem) Blade Ratio
  • Petiole absent (leaf sessile)
Leaf Length (blade PLUS petiole)
  • < 5 mm (< .20 inch)
Leaf Width
  • < 1 mm (< .04 inch)
Leaf Shape (simple leaves only)
  • Obovate
  • Orbicular (round)
  • Oval
  • Ovate
Leaf or Leaflet Margin
  • Entire
Leaf or Leaflet Blade Base
  • Rounded
Leaf or Leaflet Tip
  • Rounded (obtuse)
Leaf or Leaflet Blade Surface
  • Glabrous (NO hairs)
Succulence
  • Not succulent

Milky Juice
  • Juice NOT milky (watery)
Woodiness
  • Herbaceous
Spines or Thorns
  • Spines or Thorns ABSENT
Aromatic (vegetative structures)
  • Not aromatic
Life Cycle
  • Annual
Plant Height at Maturity
  • < 1 cm (< .40 inch)
Wind Dissemination
  • Not wind disseminated
Moisture Regime
  • Aquatic
Chlorophyll
  • Present
Growth Habit (while flowering)
  • Floating

Root or Vegetative Propagule
  • Fibrous

US State
  • Alabama
  • Arkansas
  • Connecticut
  • Delaware
  • Florida
  • Georgia
  • Illinois
  • Kansas
  • Kentucky
  • Louisiana
  • Massachusetts
  • Maine
  • Michigan
  • Missouri
  • Mississippi
  • North Carolina
  • New Hampshire
  • New Jersey
  • New York
  • Ohio
  • Pennsylvania
  • Tennessee
  • Texas
  • Virginia
  • Wisconsin
  • West Virginia
  • Indiana
  • Maryland
  • Rhode Island
  • Vermont
  • Alaska
  • Arizona
  • California
  • Colorado
  • Iowa
  • Idaho
  • Minnesota
  • Montana
  • North Dakota
  • New Mexico
  • Nevada
  • Oklahoma
  • Oregon
  • South Dakota
  • Utah
  • Washington
  • Wyoming
  • Nebraska
Canadian Province or Territory
  • British Columbia
  • New Brunswick
  • Ontario
  • Prince Edward Island
  • Quebec
  • Alberta
  • Manitoba
  • Newfoundland
  • Saskatchewan
  • Yukon
  • Nunavut
  • Northwest Territory
Other
  • District of Columbia
  • St. Pierre and Miquelon
  • Labrador

  • Aquatic and Riparian Plants of the West, 2003 (ISBN# 1-879906-59-7) See page: 49
  • Weeds of the Midwestern United States & Central Canada, University of Georgia 2010, ISBN#0-8203-3506-1 See page: 326
  • Weeds of the Northern U.S, and Canada, 1999 Royer and Dickinson, (ISBN# 1-55105-221-0) See page: 127
  • Weeds of the United States and Their Control, Lorenzi 1987, ISBN# 0-442-25884-4 See page: 88
  • Listed as a `Weed` by the Biota of North America Program, 2008 x
  • Listed in the WSSA Composite List of Weeds X
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