LEMNACEi^-DUCKWEED FAMILY 



DUCKWEED. DUCKMEAT 



Lemna minor 



Lemna, an ancient Greek name of obscure meaning. 



A minute, floating, aquatic plant, abundant in small 

 ponds and the backwater of streams. 



Plant-body. — Consists of a disk-shaped thallus (leaf) 

 about an eighth of an inch in diameter, circular, ovate 

 or obovate, which is loosely cellular, pale green, and bears 



one or two delicate _ 



white roots attached 

 to the under surface. 

 Latest authorities re- 

 gard this floating disk 

 as a leaf-like stem. 



Flowers. — Monoeci- 

 ous, minute, borne on 

 the edge or upper sur- 

 face of the plant, and 

 consist of a single sta- 

 men or a single stigma. 



1 ' I Duckmeat 



Lemna minor 



In the slack water of a slow-flowing stream in the 

 sheltered, quiet coves of lake or pond one often finds 

 in midsummer an area of water with an absolutely 

 green cover. Investigation shows that this cover is 

 made of innumerable floating plants, more or less 

 circular disks varying in size from a pin-head to a 

 quarter of an inch in diameter. They multiply by 

 sending out more disks; these usually separate and set 



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