Wolffia globosa

Asian watermeal

Family: Araceae · Type: perennial · Native

Asian watermeal is a California native perennial found in the Sierra Nevada foothills, San Joaquin Valley, and southern California coastal regions in interior valley ponds at elevations below 200 meters. Flowering from late spring to fall, this tiny aquatic plant produces nearly invisible green flowers. Growing as an extremely minute plant just 0.4 to 0.8 millimeters long, it forms transparent green cylindrical bodies that float delicately on water surfaces. Its tiny body is characterized by a slightly convex upper surface with 1 to 10 stomates, barely rising above the water's surface. This diminutive aquatic plant uniquely reproduces through small budding pouches with distinctive long-celled collars connecting daughter plants.

Habitat: Ponds of interior valleys

Bloom period: Late spring-fall

Elevation: < 200 m

Bioregions: SNF, SnJV, SCo

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