Wolffia

Wolffia
Each speck is an individual plant (on human fingers, for scale).
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Alismatales
Family: Araceae
Subfamily: Lemnoideae
Genus: Wolffia
Schleid.
Species

9-11, see text

Close-up of two different duckweeds: Spirodela polyrrhiza and Wolffia globosa: The very tiny Wolffia plants are under 2 millimetres (0.079 in) long.

Wolffia is a genus of nine to 11 species which include the smallest flowering plants on Earth. Commonly called watermeal or duckweed, these aquatic plants resemble specks of cornmeal floating on the water. Wolffia species are free-floating thalli, green or yellow-green, and without roots. The flower is produced in a depression on the top surface of the plant body. It has one stamen and one pistil. Individuals often float together in pairs or form floating mats with related plants, such as Lemna and Spirodela species. Most species have a very wide distribution across several continents. Wolffia species are composed of about 40% protein on a dry-matter basis, about the same as the soybean, making them a potential high-protein human food source. They have historically been collected from the water and eaten as a vegetable in much of Asia. The genus was first recorded in New Zealand by Ruth Mason.[1]

Selected species

References

  1. ↑ Moar, N. T. (1990). "Ruth Mason, M.Sc. 1913–1990". New Zealand Journal of Botany. 28 (4). doi:10.1080/0028825X.1990.10412335. Retrieved 6 August 2017.

Further reading

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