Lemna trisulca L. (syn. Staurogeton trisulcus (L.) Schur; star duckweed; ivy-leaved duckweed) 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 below the surface), except when flowering or fruiting. Also unlike other duckweeds, a large number of fronds remain attached to each other at a time.
Description The 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.Parnell, J. and Curtis, T. 2012. Webb's An Irish Flora. Cork University Press.
The flowering fronds are smaller than the vegetative fronds and somewhat curl up from under the water to the surface to present the flowers (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
This species is widely distributed in cool-temperate regions, including Great Britain and Ireland,Clapham, A.R., Tutin, T.G. and Warburg, E.F. 1968. Excursion Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press. Hackney, P. (Ed.) 1992. Stewart & Corry's Flora of the North-east of Ireland. Institute of Irish Studies. The Queen's University of Belfast. (HB) 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.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.
References
External links Lemna trisulca in Flora of North America