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Spirodela polyrrhiza

Common name:	Great Duckweed	Family:	Lemnaceae
Author:	(L.)Schleid.	Botanical references:	17, 200
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	Europe, including Britain, south and east from Scandanavia to N. Africa and Asia. America, Australia
Habitat:	Still water in ditches and ponds[17].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	1	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	2

Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	polyrrhiza = many roots
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Arales. Duckweed family

Physical Characteristics

Perennial growing to 0.01m by 0.05m at a fast rate. It is hardy to zone 5. It is in flower in July. The flowers are monoecious (individual flowers are either male or female, but both sexes can be found on the same plant). We rate it 1/5 for edibility and 2/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It can grow in water.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Pond.

Edible Uses

Leaves.

The plant is sometimes used as a food[177, 183]. No more details are given.

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Antipruritic Antipyretic Cardiotonic Carminative Diaphoretic Diuretic.

The whole plant is antipruritic, antipyretic, cardiotonic, carminative, diaphoretic, diuretic[147, 176, 218]. It stimulates the appearance of measles rash[147, 176]. It is used in the treatment of colds, measles, oedema and difficulty in urination[176].

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

Requires a sunny position in still water that is rich in nitrates and lime[200].
A very small plant without differentiation into various parts such as leaf, stem etc (they are called Thalli), it is 8mm in diameter and often forming a mat on the water surface and perennating by means of buds (turions) that sink in autumn and rise to the surface in spring. The so-called rootcap (really only an apical swelling), has a higher specific gravity than any other part of the plant, righting capsized individuals[200].

Propagation

The plant divides freely in the growing season and does not need help.

Suppliers

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

Web References

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

[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.

[147] ? A Barefoot Doctors Manual. Running Press ISBN 0-914294-92-X
A very readable herbal from China, combining some modern methods with traditional chinese methods.

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

[177] Kunkel. G. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books 1984 ISBN 3874292169
An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of latin names with a brief list of edible parts.

[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.

[218] Duke. J. A. and Ayensu. E. S. Medicinal Plants of China Reference Publications, Inc. 1985 ISBN 0-917256-20-4
Details of over 1,200 medicinal plants of China and brief details of their uses. Often includes an analysis, or at least a list of constituents. Heavy going if you are not into the subject.

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.
Website: www.pfaf.org Phone: 0845 458 4719/_44(0) 1208 872963

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We make no claims of magical effects or supernatural powers for any item in this catalog. In spite of legendary attributes or occult and craft tradition, such items are offered as curios only and beliefs concerning their magical effectiveness are related only for historical interest.