Lemna trisulca L. (syn. Staurogeton trisulcus (L.) Schur; star duckweed;[1] ivy-leaved duckweed[2]) is a species of aquatic plants in the arum family Araceae. It has a subcosmopolitan distribution. Unlike other duckweeds, it has submerged rather than floating fronds (up to 12-14m below the surface[3]), except when flowering or fruiting. Also unlike other duckweeds, a large number of fronds remain attached to each other at a time.
| Lemna trisulca | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Order: | Alismatales |
| Family: | Araceae |
| Genus: | Lemna |
| Species: | L. trisulca
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| Binomial name | |
| Lemna trisulca | |
Description
editThe fronds usually grow submerged and are oblong-lanceolate in shape and are up to 14 mm long. They are blunt at the end and taper to a tail-like stalk at the other.[4]
The flowering fronds are smaller than the vegetative fronds and somewhat curl up from under the water to the surface to present the flowers [5] (to a casual look this may cause the flowering fronds to resemble reddened duckweeds more of the L. minor format with white flower spots, with obvious greener L. trisulca directly beneath); illustration photo of flowers.
Distribution
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This species is widely distributed in cool-temperate regions, including Great Britain and Ireland,[6][7] Asia (Bangladesh, China (Northern, Western, Southern [Yunnan]), Taiwan, India (Eastern, Northern), Indonesia (Sumatra, New Guinea), Brunei, Japan, Malaysia, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, Pakistan, Philippines); Europe; Oceania; N. America; and S. America.[8]
References
edit- ^ USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "Lemna trisulca". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 2016-01-24.
- ^ BSBI List 2007 (xls). Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. Archived from the original (xls) on 2015-06-26. Retrieved 2014-10-17.
- ^ Pip, Eva; Simmons, Kent (1986). "Aquatic angiosperms at unusual depths in Shoal Lake, Manitoba-Ontario". The Canadian Field-Naturalist. 100 (3): 354–358. doi:10.5962/p.355648. hdl:10680/1293. ISSN 0008-3550.
- ^ Parnell, J. and Curtis, T. 2012. Webb's An Irish Flora. Cork University Press. ISBN 978-185918-4783
- ^ "Article in Limnologica April 2021".
- ^ Clapham, A.R., Tutin, T.G. and Warburg, E.F. 1968. Excursion Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0 521 04656 4
- ^ Hackney, P. (Ed.) 1992. Stewart & Corry's Flora of the North-east of Ireland. Institute of Irish Studies. The Queen's University of Belfast. ISBN 0 85389 446 9(HB)
- ^ Ito, Y., T. Ohi-Toma, Nb. Tanaka, Nr. Tanaka, and J. Murata (umpubl.) New or noteworthy plant collections from Myanmar (8) Blyxa aubertii var. echinosperma, Lemna trisulca, and Najas tenuis. APG: Acta Phytotaxonomica et Geobotanica xx: xxx-xxx.
External links
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