General: Fronds annual, usually submersed, oblong to lanceolate, 6-12 mm long, long-stalked, remaining attached in a zig-zag chain, obscurely 3-nerved, the young plants produced from pouches on either side near the junction of the stalk and the plant body.
If more than one illustration is
available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two
subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below.
Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range. (Updated August, 2013)
Ponds and slow-moving streams in the lowland, steppe and montane zones; frequent throughout BC south of 56degreeN, absent on the Queen Charlotte Islands and the mainland coast, infrequent elsewhere in BC east of the Coast-Cascade mountains and S of 55degreeN; circumpolar, N to AK, YT and NT, E to NB and NS and S to VA, AL, AR, TX, NM, AZ, CA and MX; Eurasia, S America.
1. Fronds oblong to lanceolate, 6-12 mm long, long-stalked, remaining attached in a zig-zag chain, usually submersed..................Lemna trisulca
1. Fronds elliptic, rounded or broadly egg-shaped, 2-6 mm long, unstalked, quickly becoming detached, floating on the surface...............Lemna minor
