Re: Lemna and other duckweeds

In a message dated 07/07/2000 8:00:11 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
StellrJ@aol.com writes:

<< << I've carefully
  kept Wolffia going for years in cultivation but, despite rapid vegetative
  reproduction, I just can't imagine how this plant survives in the wild! >>

 Where have you seen it in the wild?  The larger genus, Lemna, I tend to see
 in very shallow waters, even ephemeral puddles, where there are no larger
 plants nor fish.  Never having seen Wolffia, I can only speculate, but I
 suspect is is an extreme specialist, surviving in places no competitior can
 reach.

 Jason Hernandez
 Naturalist-at-Large >>

Hi Jason,

We have quite a few Lemnaceae native here in Michigan. Almost all seem to
like quiet back-waters of ponds and lakes where they grow happily entangled
among large plants like Nuphar, Nymphaea, Typha, etc. I have seen a Wolffia
sp. growing with Spirodela polyrhiza and both Lemna minor and Lemna trisulca
- all in the same pond.

    Jim Langhammer
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