Lemnoideae Essay

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Lemnoideae Duckweeds, or water lentils, are aquatic plants which float on or just beneath the surface of still or slow-moving fresh water bodies and wetlands. Also known as "bayroot", they arose from within the arum or aroid family (Araceae),[1] and therefore, often are classified as the subfamily Lemnoideae within the Araceae. Classifications created prior to the approximate end of the twentieth century tend to classify them as a separate family, Lemnaceae. These plants are very simple, lacking an obvious stem or leaves. They consist of a small "thalloid" or plate-like structure only a few cells thick that float on or just under the water surface, with or without simple rootlets.[2] Reproduction is mostly by asexual budding, but occasionally three tiny "flowers" consisting of two stamens and a pistil are produced and sexual reproduction occurs. Some view this "flower" as a pseudanthium, or reduced inflorescence, with three flowers that are distinctly either female or male and which are derived from the spadix in Araceae. Anatomical research regarding the mechanics of this process has not been completed or remains ambiguous due to considerable evolutionary reduction of these plants from their earlier relatives. The flower of duckweed genus Wolffia is the smallest known flower in the world, measuring merely 0.3 mm long.[3] The fruit produced through this occasional sexual reproduction is a utricle, and a seed is produced in a sac containing air that facilitates flotation. Duckweed in various environments One of the more important factors influencing the distribution of wetland plants, and aquatic plants in particular, is nutrient availability.[4] Duckweeds tend to be associated with fertile, even eutrophic conditions. Duckweed can be spread by waterfowl and small mammals[5] as well as by moving water. In water bodies with constant currents or overflow, the

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