Photo Album 

Wolffia and Spirodela

Wolffia arrhiza (rootless water meal) surrounded by Spirodela

 Wolffia arrhiza

Rootless water meal

  At the moment of the flowering

 At the time of flowering, duckweed multiplies vegetatively.  In the photo new fronds can be seen emerging from the right and left pockets.

Swollen duckweed

As Lemna gibba prepares to flower, the fronds grow to twice the size of normal vegetative fronds. 

Duckweed in a pond

 Frequently, several forms of duckweeds are encountered in a pond: Lemna minor, Lemna gibba and Spirodella polyrhiza

Karasun Lake

Krasnodar, June - 1998

In a single week duckweeds can increase their mass two-fold and cover the entire surface of a reservoir.


 Canals and ponds

 Frequently duckweed covers canals and ponds in the suburbs of Krasnodar with a continuous carpet.  June, 2000.


Duckweed in a creek

Duckweed is transferred from one reservoir in another by the current of water.

Duckweed and the frog


Duckweed and the bee

 The large plant here - Lemna gibba has a length of 2-3 mm. A little smaller are two forms of Wolffia, each with a length of 1 mm.
Photograph from the book, Biology of Plants(P.H. Raven, R.F. Evert., S.E. Eichhorn., 1986, Russian translation, Современная ботаника, 1990).

Duckweed in the soil

Duckweed can grow in soil near reservoirs.

Water eggs

 A woman in Taiwan gathers a harvest of "to knai- us" from a plantation of duckweed.  Wolffia globosa is termed "water eggs", since the plants of Wolffia resemble millions of small green eggs.  Fronds of Wolffia contain about 40% protein, almost as much as soybeans.  Furthermore, Wolffia contains a quantity of the essential amino acid, methionine. http://daphne.palomar.edu/wayne/imgwotha.htm

 Duckweed and crocodiles

Photo from the periodical GEO (ГЕО). September, 1999. 
Home pageBiologyFormsBio-IndicatorsBibliographyReferences
Краснодар, 2002