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Lemna minor

Common name:	Duckweed	Family:	Lemnaceae
Author:	L.	Botanical references:	17, 200
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	A cosmopolitan plant, found in most regions of the world, including Britain, absent from Tropics.
Habitat:	Still water[17].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	1	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	2

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	L. cyclostasa[B,P] L. minima[B,P]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	A'Das Al May [E], A'Des El Ma [E], Common Duckweed [P,B,L], Fou P'Ing [E], Klein Kroos [D], Lenteja De Agua [E], Su Mercimegi [E],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	minor = smaller
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Arales. Duckweed family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	Cambodia China Egypt Iraq Mexico Nc Spain Turkey

Physical Characteristics

Perennial growing to 0.01m. It is hardy to zone 4 and is not frost tender. It is in flower from June to July. The flowers are monoecious (individual flowers are either male or female, but both sexes can be found on the same plant). It is noted for attracting wildlife. We rate it 1/5 for edibility and 2/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It can grow in water.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Pond.

Edible Uses

Leaves.

Occasionally used as a vegetable[183]. No further details are given but we have found the flavour to be less than desirable[K].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Alterative Antiscorbutic Astringent Depurative Diuretic Febrifuge Homeopathy Ophthalmic Sedative Skin.

The whole plant is alterative, antipruritic, antiscorbutic, astringent, depurative, diuretic, febrifuge and soporific[176, 178, 240]. It is used in the treatment of colds, measles, oedema and difficulty in urination[176]. It is applied externally in the treatment of skin diseases and is used as a wash for ophthalmia[240].
The plant is used in homeopathy[240], but the report gives no more details.

Other Uses

Repellent.

The dried plant repels mosquitoes[178].

Cultivation details

Requires a sunny position in still water that is rich in nitrates and lime[200].
Duckweed can be a troublesome pond weed though it is easily controlled by simply scooping it out[56, 200]. This scooped out material makes an excellent addition to the compost heap. The growing plant is a good food source for fish and birds, as well as providing cover for creatures in the pond[200].
Although it is towards the limit of its climatic range in Britain, it often flowers here if growing in a sheltered sunny position[17]. It over-winters in temperate areas by means of resting buds which sink to the bottom of the pond in the late autumn and rise again in the spring[200].

Propagation

Seed - we have no information on this species but, since it spreads so rapidly by division, it really needs no extra help once it is in a pond.

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for the family Lemnaceae.

[CHINA] Draft Data Very detailed botanical/identification info. from the Flora of China.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.

[17] Clapham, Tootin and Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press 1962
A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures.

[56] Muhlberg. H. Complete Guide to Water Plants. E. P. Publishing Ltd. 1982 ISBN 0-7158-0789-7
Deals with a wide range of plants for temperate areas (and indoor aquaria) with quite a lot of information on cultivation techniques.

[176] Yeung. Him-Che. Handbook of Chinese Herbs and Formulas. Institute of Chinese Medicine, Los Angeles 1985
A very good Chinese herbal.

[178] Stuart. Rev. G. A. Chinese Materia Medica. Taipei. Southern Materials Centre
A translation of an ancient Chinese herbal. Fascinating.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[240] Chopra. R. N., Nayar. S. L. and Chopra. I. C. Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants (Including the Supplement). Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi. 1986
Very terse details of medicinal uses of plants with a wide range of references and details of research into the plants chemistry. Not for the casual reader.

Readers Comments

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
Blagdon Cross, Ashwater, Beaworthy, Devon, EX21 5DF, UK.
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This page (UK) http://www.comp.leeds.ac.uk/cgi-bin/pfaf/arr_html?Lemna+minor
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