Tell Me About Lemna


Dear List,

Let me summarize about what we know about transporting Lemna: You can probably get away with just about anything and the Lemna will arrive perfectly vigorous and ready to take over any body of still water in which there are no carp.

My question is:What scientific inquiry was at the root of the original request? I can't even remember now who it was who asked about it. Is there some interesting experiment that is planned?

Lemna minor holds a special fascination for me as an aquarist and aficionado of watery places. (So, too, the other (three?) floating aroids that I know about.) These guys are unusually successful plants. They have spread across the globe. Question: Were they always across the globe, or were they inadvertently introduced from some original continent? They thrive with (apparently) little or no sexual reproduction. Is that true? Has anyone ever seen a Lemna flower or seed? Why are they not susceptible to infection, being a single clone? They (especially Lemna) are very hardy. I have collected pond-side muck and kept it in the dark for months only to have new Lemna arise as soon as conditions permit. What is the nature of a Lemna resting spore and what conditions can be endured by them while maintaining viability? What induces a resting spore? Are resting spores from Florida the same as the ones that overwinter here in Michigan?

The main problem I have with Lemna minor is that I can't get rid of them easily. Scrupulous vigilance (or a 10-cent goldfish) will keep them down. But if you leave even the tiniest remnant floating you'll have a carpet of green in a couple of months. From an aquarist's point of view another species, Spirodela polyrrhiza, is much more manageable, maybe because the plants are individually larger. Despite this rampant vigor I have never seen a flower in Lemna minor or in Spirodela.

My morning's idle speculation.

Ted. 
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