Scientific Name:
Lemna minor
Pronunciation:
LEM-nuh MY-nor
Common Name:
common duckweed
Family Name:
Araceae
Plant Type:
Aquatic plant, Weed (horticultural)
Key ID Features:
A small free-floating aquatic weed (one of the simplest and smallest flowering plants); leaves or "fronds" rounded, oval-oblong (similar in appearance to squashed peas), 1-8mm long x 0.6-5mm wide x ~1mm thick (smaller leaves bud off that may appear like lobes), un-stalked, with 1-3 thin adventitious roots 5-15mm long on underside of blade.
Habit:
Spreading
Form:
Creeping / Mat-like
Texture:
Fine
Mature Height:
< 0.1m
Mature Spread:
4 - 5m
Growth Rate:
Fast
Origin:
Australia / New Zealand, North America, South Asia / India
Hardiness Rating:
Zone 4: (-34 to -29 °C)
Exposure:
Full sun, Part sun/part shade
Soil/Growing Medium:
Bog
Water Use:
High, Wetlands
Landscape Uses:
Aquatic - ponds, Attract birds, Reclamation, Urban agriculture, Wetland - bogs, Wildlife food
Additional Info:
Leaf Morphology:
Form:
Simple, Lobed
Arrangement:
Sessile
Texture/Venation:
Succulent
Surfaces:
Lustrous
Colour in Fall:
Green
Shapes:
Elliptic, Oblong, Obovate, Ovate
Apices:
Obtuse
Bases:
Obtuse
Margins:
Additional Info:
Lobing is due to asexual reproduction
Inflorescence Type:
Flowers solitary
Flower Morphology:
Flowers perfect
Number Of Petals:
0
Colour (petals):
Not showy, White, Green-yellow
Flower Scent:
None
Flower Time at Peak:
May, Jun, Jul
Additional Info:
Rarely produced or seen
Fruit Type:
Achene
Fruit Colour:
Green-yellow
Fruiting Time:
Jul, Aug
Additional Info:
Fruit insignificant, Achene-like bladder called an utricle, rarely produced or seen
Bark or Stem Colour:
n/a
Organ Modifications:
Succulent leaves, Succulent stems
Propagation:
Division - above ground parts
Maintenance:
Medium
Pest Susceptibility:
(Pest resistant, Disease resistant)
Course(s):
- CLT Training
- HORT 1155
Location(s):
- (GAZ) GAZebo
- (GAZS) GAZebo South
- (PDE) PonD East
- (PDW) PonD West