Flora of North America species comparison

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Spirodela polyrrhiza

common duck-meal, common duckmeat, common duckweed, greater duckweed, spirodèle polyrhize
Roots

7–21, to 3 cm, 1 or 2 perforating scale.
Flowers

ovaries 1–2-ovulate.
Fruits

1–1.5 mm, laterally winged to apex.
Seeds

with 12–20 distinct ribs.
Fronds

obovate to circular, flat or rarely gibbous, 2–10 mm, 1–1.5 times as long as wide, apex rounded or pointed, upper surface sometimes with red spot in center;

veins 7–16(–21);

turions sometimes present, rootless, brownish olive, circular-reniform, 1–2 mm diam.
2n

= 30, 38, 40, 50, 80.

Spirodela polyrrhiza
Phenology Flowering (very rare) early summer–early fall.
Habitat Eutrophic, quiet waters, in temperate to tropical regions
Elevation 0–2500 m (0–8200 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; AZ; CA; CO; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IA; ID; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MS; MT; NC; ND; NE; NH; NJ; NM; NV; NY; OH; OK; OR; PA; RI; SC; SD; TN; TX; UT; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; WY; AB; BC; MB; NB; NS; ON; PE; QC; SK; nearly worldwide
[WildflowerSearch map]
Source FNA vol. 22, p. 145.
Parent taxa Lemnaceae > Spirodela
Sibling taxa
S. punctata
Synonyms Lemna polyrrhiza
Name authority (Linnaeus) Schleiden: Linnaea 13: 392. (1839)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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(If the plant you're looking for doesn't show up in the auto-complete list, that means it either isn't described in Flora of North America yet, or it's listed under a synonym. And please note that Flora of North America is still missing several plant families, including Fabaceae, Apiaceae, Boraginaceae, and Polemoniaceae.)

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