Lemna gibba

Hunchback duckweed ( Lemna gibba )

The Hunchback duckweed ( Lemna gibba ) is one of seven species of the genus duckweed ( Lemna ). These have recently been in the family of the Araceae (formerly Lemnaceae ). Duckweed usually consist of one or more " leaves " (more precisely: phylloclades ) containing air-filled cavities. They swim with it on the surface of bodies of water. Of these leaves each descends a root down into the water, can be added to the nutrient salts. It lacks an outline in stem and leaf.

The Hunchback duckweed can be distinguished mainly by their in summer strongly swollen bulbous base of the other, flat -built types. The top is slightly arched. In the autumn the sprout limbs, however, flatten out again. It belongs to the common duckweed species, but is often misunderstood and uncritical addressed as Small duckweed. Most hang one to three (rarely six) sprout limbs together. Lemna gibba occurs on sun-exposed, standing, nutrient- rich ( nitrogen- polluted ) waters such as ponds and cattle troughs, which they soon completely covers with her about three to five millimeters in size and roundish - oval, green floating leaves. Through this coverage occurs only a little light into the water, what hinders submerged plants occurring in the growth and for example also affects the water temperature. The large biomass production of dying in the autumn sprout limbs contributes to the siltation of the watercourse. The Hunchback duckweed forms both monospecific dominance stocks and companies with other duckweed.

Duckweed multiply either remain connected to the mother plant or become self-employed mainly asexually by budding, in the laterally growing shoots. Only rarely the duckweed forms small, inconspicuous flowers. In the fall of stores starch, and then falls to the frost-free ground for overwintering.