# Duckweed seeds?



## werner (Jul 6, 2006)

I had some giant duckweed (_Spirodela polyrhiza_) sitting out in a bucket (room temp) for about a week, waiting for a new home. When I went to clean it out I found teensy (<1mm) bright green dots floating in the water. There don't seem to be any in my aquarium, but they'd be hard to spot.

Are these seeds or fruit (or something else entirely)? I can't seem to find any pictures of _Spirodela_ seeds/fruit on the net, just those of other Lemnacea. The descriptions don't seem to match what I have. Some of these are "single" and some are "double" like the photo.

Here's what it looks like at 60x magnification:


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## neonfish3 (Feb 12, 2004)

Looks like Wolffia to me or better known as Water meal.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolffia


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## werner (Jul 6, 2006)

Thanks! That's what it is. Never occurred to me that it could be another plant- it's so tiny.


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## HeyPK (Jan 23, 2004)

Wolffia is the smallest known flowering plant.


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## Cavan Allen (Jul 22, 2004)

It would behoove you to hunt down and remove every little bit of that stuff *NOW*. Imagine something like duckweed but much smaller.


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## werner (Jul 6, 2006)

> Imagine something like duckweed but much smaller.


AHHHHRGH! [slasher movie soundtrack playing in my head] I had a look through my tank and can't find any. Apparently it prefers still water, so the current might be keeping it in check (it only appeared in the bucket.) Hopefully my fish might be eating it too.


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