Lemna gibba

Duckweed

Family: Araceae · Type: perennial · Native

Duckweed is a native perennial aquatic plant found in California's inland valleys, coastal regions, and central valleys in fresh or brackish water habitats at elevations generally below 1,500 meters. Flowering in summer, this tiny plant produces tiny green to yellow-green flowers often mottled with red. Growing in small clusters of two to three individuals, each plant is a tiny, glossy elliptical or round floating body typically 3 to 6 millimeters wide. Its leaf-like body has a symmetric base and asymmetric tip, with a slightly convex upper surface and enlarged air spaces that are often bordered in red. The fruit is distinctively winged, adding to the plant's delicate aquatic character.

Habitat: Common. Fresh or brackish water

Bloom period: Summer

Elevation: generally < 1500 m

Bioregions: CA (exc KR, SNE)

California counties: San Bernardino, Riverside, San Mateo, Humboldt, Fresno, Santa Barbara, Sonoma, Yolo, San Diego, Ventura, Colusa, Monterey, Santa Clara, Mono, Merced, Sierra, San Luis Obispo, Santa Cruz, Inyo, Mendocino, Los Angeles, Orange, Kern, Siskiyou, Marin, Alameda, San Benito, Glenn, Lake, Nevada, Plumas, San Joaquin, Contra Costa, Butte, Imperial, San Francisco, Modoc, Sacramento

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.