''Spirodela'' is a genus of

aquatic plant Aquatic plants are plants that have adapted to living in aquatic environments (saltwater or freshwater). They are also referred to as hydrophytes or macrophytes to distinguish them from algae and other microphytes. A macrophyte is a plant that ...

s, one of several genera containing plants commonly called

duckweed Lemnoideae is a subfamily of flowering aquatic plants, known as duckweeds, water lentils, or water lenses. They float on or just beneath the surface of still or slow-moving bodies of fresh water and wetlands. Also known as bayroot, they arose ...

. ''Spirodela'' species are members of the

Araceae The Araceae are a family of monocotyledonous flowering plants in which flowers are borne on a type of inflorescence called a spadix. The spadix is usually accompanied by, and sometimes partially enclosed in, a spathe (or leaf-like bract). Also ...

under the

APG II system The APG II system (Angiosperm Phylogeny Group II system) of plant classification is the second, now obsolete, version of a modern, mostly molecular-based, system of plant taxonomy that was published in April 2003 by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Gro ...

. They were formerly members of the

Lemnaceae Lemnoideae is a subfamily of flowering aquatic plants, known as duckweeds, water lentils, or water lenses. They float on or just beneath the surface of still or slow-moving bodies of fresh water and wetlands. Also known as bayroot, they arose ...

. ''Spirodela'' species are free-floating

thalli Thallus (plural: thalli), from Latinized Greek (), meaning "a green shoot" or "twig", is the vegetative tissue of some organisms in diverse groups such as algae, fungi, some liverworts, lichens, and the Myxogastria. Many of these organisms were ...

; two to five plants may remain connected to each other. Plants are green, but may have a red or brown underside. Multiple

root In vascular plants, the roots are the organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often below the sur ...

s (seven to 12) emerge from each thallus. ''Spirodela'' is larger () than ''

Lemna ''Lemna'' is a genus of free-floating aquatic plants referred to by the common name "Lemnoideae, duckweed". They are morphologically divergent members of the arum family Araceae. These rapidly growing plants have found uses as a Model organism, m ...

'' ( – , one root per thallus). Certain species of ''Spirodela'' overwinter as turions, a dormant form that lacks air pockets, so sinks to the bottom of the pond. In spring, turions rise to the surface and germinate to start a new population. ''Spirodela'' often forms floating mats with related species, e.g. ''

'' and ''

Wolffia ''Wolffia'' is a genus of aquatic plants with a cosmopolitan distribution. They include the smallest flowering plants on Earth. Commonly called watermeal or duckweed, these aquatic plants resemble specks of cornmeal floating on the water. Indivi ...

''. The genus is virtually cosmopolitan in distribution.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
/ref>Flora of North America
/ref> ''

Spirodela punctata ''Spirodela punctata'' (or ''Landoltia punctata'', common name dotted duckmeat) is a species of duckweed (Lemnoideae). The species is morphologically intermediate between '' Lemna'' and other species of ''Spirodela ''Spirodela'' is a genus of ...

'' is sometimes treated as ''Landoltia punctata''.Les, D. H. and D. J. Crawford. 1999. ''Landoltia'' (Lemnaceae), a new genus of duckweeds. ''Novon'' 9: 530-533.

Species

# ''

Spirodela oligorrhiza ''Spirodela oligorrhiza'' is a species of plants in the family Araceae. Sources References {{Taxonbar, from=Q17912473 Flora of Malta Lemnoideae ...

'' (Kurz) Hegelm. - Africa, Australia, southern Asia # ''

Spirodela polyrhiza ''Spirodela polyrhiza'' ( ''S. polyrrhiza'') is a species of duckweed known by the common names common duckmeat, greater duckweed, great duckmeat, common duckweed, and duckmeat. It can be found nearly worldwide in many types of freshwater habitat ...

'' (L.) Schleid. - cosmopolitan # ''

'' (G.Mey.) C.H.Thomps. - South America, Central America, West Indies # ''

Spirodela sichuanensis ''Spirodela'' is a genus of aquatic plants, one of several genera containing plants commonly called duckweed. ''Spirodela'' species are members of the Araceae under the APG II system. They were formerly members of the Lemnaceae. ''Spirodela' ...

'' M.G.Liu & K.M.Xie - southern China

References

External links

*Armstrong, W. (2005
Wayne Armstrong's treatment of the Lemnaceae
*Cross, J.W. (2006)

The Duckweed Genome Project
Lemnoideae Araceae genera Aquatic plants {{Araceae-stub