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Wolffia globosa

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The entire image is 3 millimetres wide!


Photo of a woman, harvesting Wolffia by
M. Jackson.


Mixed with Small Duckweed.


Sitting on my finger.

Author: Cornelis den Hartog & F. van der Plas 1970
Family:  Lemnaceae - or Araceae?
Habitat:   Assam, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China  India, Japan, Java, Korea, Laos, Lesser Sunda Islands, Malaya, Myanmar, Nansei-shoto, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Sumatera, Indonesia, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam
Soil:   Water
Water:   Plenty!
Sun:   Medium - Maximum
Thickness:  0,4 - 0,9 millimetres
Height:  Less than one millimetre
Flower:   Minute, Greenish
Propagate:   Seeds/Division
Names:   Asian Watermeal, Water Eggs
Synonyms:  Lemna globosa William Roxburgh 1832.
Grantia globosa
Griff. ex Voigt  1845.
Telmatophace cylindracea,
Welw. ex Hegelm.
Wolffia schleidenii, Miq.
Wolffia cylindracea
Hegelm. 1868

This minute member of the Lemnaceae family was given this name by Cornelis den Hartog and F. van der Plas in 1970. It is found on the waters of southern Asia.

This is the world's smallest flowering plant! It only consists of thalli; an undifferentiated vegetative tissue, and the minute flowers have only one stamen and one pistil. Although the seed are extremely tiny, it makes up more than half the entire plant. It is composed of about 40% protein, making it a very potential high-protein human food source.

Recently research suggest the correct family actually is Araceae, making it related to the amassing  Amorphophallus titanum!


The entire image is 16 millimetres wide!