Common Duckweed

Common Duckweed - Lemna minor

Description

Fronds pale green, rounded to oval, 1.5 mm, opaque, floating, flat, 3 veined. Linked by an inconspicuous stalk or separate and with a single root.

Similar Species

Other Lemna, especially L minuta, which has only one vein on the frond

Identification difficulty
ID checklist (your specimen should have all of these features)

Only use well-grown material in summer.  Ovate (widest near middle), no red pigmentation, 3 or more obscure veins on underside

Recording advice

Photo of summer leaf frond underside, with veins

Habitat

Lakes, ponds, ditches and backwaters - even in cattle troughs.

When to see it

May to July.

Life History

Perennial.

UK Status

Common throughout Britain except the north of Scotland.

VC55 Status

Common in Leicestershire and Rutland. In the 1979 Flora survey of Leicestershire it was found in 405 of the 617 tetrads. 

It is probably over-recorded instead of L minuta.

Leicestershire & Rutland Map

MAP KEY:

Yellow squares = NBN records (all known data)
Coloured circles = NatureSpot records: 2025+ | 2020-2024 | pre-2020

UK Map

Additional images

All NatureSpot records