Please donate to support our ‘Plants to Save the Planet’ Project. The Project is directed at enabling designers of ‘carbon farms’ and ‘food forests’: agroecosystems of perennial plants, to choose the most appropriate plants for their requirements and site conditions. We are working on a subset of plants in the PFAF database identified as having the most potential for inclusion in such designs. We are adding search terms and icons to those plants pages, and providing a range of search options aligned to categories of plants and crop yields, with Help facilities including videos. More >>>

Follow Us:

 

Wolffia arrhiza - (L.)Horkel. ex Wimm.

Common Name Least Duckweed, Spotless watermeal
Family Lemnaceae
USDA hardiness 6-9
Known Hazards None known
Habitats Floating on quiet waters[204]. A rare native of southern Britain, growing in still waters[17].
Range Europe, including Britain, to Asia.
Edibility Rating    (4 of 5)
Other Uses    (0 of 5)
Weed Potential No
Medicinal Rating    (0 of 5)
Care
Fully Hardy Water Plants Full sun
Wolffia arrhiza Least Duckweed, Spotless watermeal


commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Fice
Wolffia arrhiza Least Duckweed, Spotless watermeal
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Illustration_Wolffia_arrhiza0.jpg

 

Translate this page:

Summary


Physical Characteristics

 
Wolffia arrhiza is an evergreen Perennial.
It is hardy to zone (UK) 7. It is in leaf all year, in flower all year, and the seeds ripen all year. The species is hermaphrodite (has both male and female organs).
Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. Suitable pH: neutral and basic (alkaline) soils and can grow in very alkaline soils.
It cannot grow in the shade. It can grow in water.

UK Hardiness Map US Hardiness Map

Synonyms

Habitats

 Pond;

Edible Uses

Edible Parts: Leaves
Edible Uses:

Leaves - cooked. An excellent flavour, they taste somewhat like a sweet cabbage[183]. The leaves are very nutritious, containing about 20% protein, 44% carbohydrate. 5% fat and are rich in vitamins A, B2, B6, C and nicotinic acid[183].

Medicinal Uses

Plants For A Future can not take any responsibility for any adverse effects from the use of plants. Always seek advice from a professional before using a plant medicinally.


None known

Our new book Edible Shrubs is now available.

Edible Shrubs provides detailed information, attractively presented, on over 70 shrub species. They have been selected to provide a mix of different plant sizes and growing conditions. Most provide delicious and nutritious fruit, but many also have edible leaves, seeds, flowers, stems or roots, or they yield edible or useful oil.

Read More

Edible Shrubs Book

Other Uses

None known

Special Uses

Cultivation details

A pond plant, floating on the surface of the water, it requires a sunny position in still water that is rich in nitrates and lime[200]. At the limit of its climatic range in Britain and probably best grown in a cold water aquarium[200]. It over-winters in temperate areas by means of resting buds which sink to the bottom of the pond in the late autumn and rise again in the spring[200]. One of the smallest flowering plants in the world, it is cultivated as a vegetable in Burma, Laos and Thailand[183]. It has been recommended for commercial cultivation, especially in tropical areas, because of its rapid multiplication and high nutritional value[183]. Plant densities of over two million plants per square metre have been found[274].

Temperature Converter

Type a value in the Celsius field to convert the value to Fahrenheit:

Fahrenheit:

image

The PFAF Bookshop

Plants For A Future have a number of books available in paperback and digital form. Book titles include Edible Plants, Edible Perennials, Edible Trees, and Woodland Gardening. Our new book to be released soon is Edible Shrubs.

Shop Now

Propagation

Seed - we have no information on this species but, since it can spread rapidly by division, it really needs no extra help once it is in a pond.

Other Names

If available other names are mentioned here

Found In

Countries where the plant has been found are listed here if the information is available

Weed Potential

Right plant wrong place. We are currently updating this section. Please note that a plant may be invasive in one area but may not in your area so it’s worth checking.

Conservation Status

IUCN Red List of Threatened Plants Status :

Related Plants
Latin NameCommon NameHabitHeightHardinessGrowthSoilShadeMoistureEdibleMedicinalOther
Wolffia globosaKhai NamPerennial0.0 10-12 F NWeWa400

 

Print Friendly and PDF

Expert comment

Author

(L.)Horkel. ex Wimm.

Botanical References

17200204

Links / References

For a list of references used on this page please go here

Readers comment

Louis Landesman   Tue Oct 25 2005

Dr. Wastewater Duckweed Utilization Page Uses of duckweed

Louis Landesman   Tue Oct 25 2005

Dr. Wastewater Duckweed Utilization Page Uses of duckweed

nat   Mon Jun 29 2009

Would anyone be able to tell me where I could obtain this plant in the UK. Thank you for your help.

QR Code

What's this?

This is a QR code (short for Quick Response) which gives fast-track access to our website pages. QR Codes are barcodes that can be read by mobile phone (smartphone) cameras. This QR Code is unique to this page. All plant pages have their own unique code. For more information about QR Codes click here.

1. Copy and print the QR code to a plant label, poster, book, website, magazines, newspaper etc and even t-shirts.

2. Smartphone users scan the QR Code which automatically takes them to the webpage the QR Code came from.

3. Smartphone users quickly have information on a plant directly for the pfaf.org website on their phone.

Add a comment

If you have important information about this plant that may help other users please add a comment or link below. Only comments or links that are felt to be directly relevant to a plant will be included. If you think a comment/link or information contained on this page is inaccurate or misleading we would welcome your feedback at admin@pfaf.org. If you have questions about a plant please use the Forum on this website as we do not have the resources to answer questions ourselves.

* Please note: the comments by website users are not necessarily those held by PFAF and may give misleading or inaccurate information.

To leave a comment please Register or login here All comments need to be approved so will not appear immediately.

Subject : Wolffia arrhiza  
All the information contained in these pages is Copyright (C) Plants For A Future, 1996-2012.
Plants For A Future is a charitable company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales. Charity No. 1057719, Company No. 3204567,
Web Design & Management
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. Some information cannot be used for commercial reasons or be modified (but some can). Please view the copyright link for more information.