Burke: Lemna minor

	Lemna minor
	common duckweed, lesser duckweed, water lentil
Habit	Floating aquatic perennials forming colonies, ovate body 1-8 mm long, flat and barely gibbous, margins entire, rarely slightly reddish beneath, sometimes diffusely red above; stipes small, white, usually decaying; roots 15 cm or shorter, sheath not winged.
Leaves	None
Flowers	Plants rarely found in flower, reproducing vegetatively; flowers 1-2 per body, surrounded by a utricular, membranous scale; stamens 2, 4-chambered; ovaries 1, containing 1 ovule, tapering into style, stigma funnel-shaped.
Fruits	Fruit a follicle, 0.8-1 mm, laterally winged toward tip, opening by bursting; seeds 1-5, with 8-15 ribs.

	Lemna minor
Flowering time	June - October
Habitat	In standing or slow-moving fresh water
Distribution	Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; Alaska to California, east across North America to the Atlantic Coast; cosmopolitan. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Origin	Native
Conservation status	Not of concern
Sibling taxa	L. minuta, L. trisulca, L. turionifera
Web links	Local floras: BC, CA, OR, WA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, PNW Herbaria WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search

Lemna minor

common duckweed, lesser duckweed, water lentil

Habit

Floating aquatic perennials forming colonies, ovate body 1-8 mm long, flat and barely gibbous, margins entire, rarely slightly reddish beneath, sometimes diffusely red above; stipes small, white, usually decaying; roots 15 cm or shorter, sheath not winged.

Leaves

None

Flowers

Plants rarely found in flower, reproducing vegetatively;

flowers 1-2 per body, surrounded by a utricular, membranous scale;

stamens 2, 4-chambered;

ovaries 1, containing 1 ovule, tapering into style, stigma funnel-shaped.

Fruits

Fruit a follicle, 0.8-1 mm, laterally winged toward tip, opening by bursting;

seeds 1-5, with 8-15 ribs.