Duckweed is a group of ubiquitous pond plants found throughout the continental United States , Canada and elsewhere in the world . While the terminal figure " duckweed " in general refers to the plebeian mintage of the flora , the name is also used to denote several other species of midget , floating , sometimes rootless aquatic plants which thrive in undisturbed waters . Though consume by many type of animals , duckweed spreads speedily and can prevent sunshine from penetrating the water ’s surface .

Identification

Duckweed is most usually get a line on the equable surface of pond and lake , forming a pebble - textured green veil on the water ’s surface . Duckweed is one of the smallest unfolding plants , though the midget white prime are seldom seen . Plants typically have only two leaves , and while most species have several small ascendent hanging down into the weewee , some species are vagabond . Northern species of duckweed constitute small pods which sink down to the lakebed in wintertime ; plants wear out quiescence in spring when the pods rise along with the temperatures . Duckweed is extremely tiny : even the turgid species , giant duckweed ( Spirodela polyrhiza ) , is no more than ¼ in across .

Types of Duckweed

Nine species of Lemna and two species of Spirodela comprise what is known as pond duckweed , with the most commonly distributed of these being lesser duckweed ( Lemna child ) . northerly types are hardy and enter quiescency during the winter , though in warm clime duckweed can be evergreen and become invasive . Many species of duckweed commonly occur together in one soundbox of piss .

Wildlife Value

As the name implies , duckweed is a food source for ducks and other aquatic birds , which deplete the vegetation . Beavers , muskrats , herons , toad and other aquatic species also depend on the plant life for intellectual nourishment . In nature as in decorative pond , duckweed is a good source of food for fish , as well . Duckweed can bring home the bacon skillful mosquito control in residential ponds when it completely covers the water ’s surface , as larvae can not break the control surface for air and perish .

Potential Problems

Ducks , geese and other birds easily transport specimens from one body of body of water to the next . Under ideal circumstance , a single plant can reproduce itself every three solar day , and in the absence of sufficient herbivores a small pool will be cover in a matter of calendar week . specially in warmer geographical zone where duckweed does not recruit wintertime dormancy , it can become passing encroaching , killing off inundate aquatic vegetation which then leads to angle kills from reduce atomic number 8 saturation . Plant control can be accomplished via mechanical removal or exercise of aquatic weed killer .

Other Potential Uses

USDA analysis of duckweed indicate the plant is compose , on average , of 38 percent protein and 35 percent carbohydrate , making it particularly high in nutritive value . For this intellect , it is often meet for use as animal feed in character of Asia , Africa and India . flora also metabolise nutrient speedily , which has made it a target for experiment to square off duckweed ’s likely economic consumption for treating sewage and stormwater . In 1998 , test conducted in Minnesota suggest several mintage of duckweed remove large amounts of ammonia , N and phosphorous from stormwater memory ponds in eight weeks , which can then be harvested and recycled for use as cattle feed .

References

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