Minute Duckweed
Lemna perpusilla
Found in still to slowly moving waters of ponds, lakes, beaver ponds, and swamps. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), South Central edition What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Mississippi (estimated). How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 65%
- Light
- Full sun, Partial shade
- Soil moisture
- Moist to standing water
No photograph yet. Looking for an old drawing…
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
Not yet recorded · Height · Spread · Leaves · Bloom
This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.
Recorded in 5 Mississippi counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Still water and its edges: ponds, lakes, millponds and reservoirs.
Forested wetlands with standing water much of the year, such as cypress and gum swamps.
Who uses this plant?
3CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including MS
Genus host records with ranges including MS · Lemna
- Elophila obliteralisWaterlily Leafcutter Moth
- Elophila tinealisBlack Duckweed Moth
- Neocataclysta magnificalisScrollwork Pyralid
0BeesSoutheastern regional records
0Specialist beesPollen specialists
16BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Lemna
- Aix sponsaWood Duck
- Anas platyrhynchosMallard
- Aythya affinisLesser Scaup
- Aythya americanaRedhead
- Aythya collarisRing-necked Duck
- Aythya marilaGreater Scaup
- Aythya valisineriaCanvasback
- Bucephala clangulaCommon Goldeneye
- Falcipennis canadensisSpruce Grouse
- Fulica americanaAmerican Coot
Show all 16
- Gallinula galeataCommon Gallinule
- Mareca americanaAmerican Wigeon
- Mareca streperaGadwall
- Porzana carolinaSora
- Quiscalus majorBoat-tailed Grackle
- Rallus limicolaVirginia Rail
Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening
No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
Plant details
- Family
- Araceae
- Hardiness
- Zones 4a–10b
- Flower color
- Green
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Flower color · “Green” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Hardiness · “Zones 4a–10b” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Light · “Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day); Partial shade (direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- primary_flower_color · “green” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Soil · “Frequent standing water; Occasionally wet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Conservation status
| Mississippi rank | SNR |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G5 |
| MS status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Will it fit your yard?
Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.
Sources
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), South Central edition
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- Mississippi occurrence source
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications