FIELD ID CHARACTERISTICS:
Tiny, light green leaves (fronds) have 1 root per frond.
Description: Small, flattened, floating, aquatic plant occurring on the water's surface.
Leaves: Leaves and stems reduced and referred to as "fronds" which look like small leaves, 2 to 6 mm long. Fronds of Lemna spp. are light green, containing one rootlet per frond.
Flowers/Fruit: Mainly reproduces asexually through clonal budding. Inconspicuous flowers produced in a pouch or spathe, but this plant seldom flowers.
Habit and Range: Swamps, ponds, lakes and sluggish creeks in the Coastal Plain and Piedmont. Occasionally in the Mountains.
Taxonomic Note: The family Araceae is the currently accepted name, with a family synonym of Lemnaceae. C values vary from 2 to 6 by species and ecoregion.
COMMON CONFUSIONS:
The single rootlet per frond helps to distinguish Lemna species from similar types of duckweed. Five species of Lemna occur in North Carolina.
