Lemna minutaKunth

least duckweed

WFO wfo-0000224445 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Lemna minuta, photographed by Bastien Alegot
fig. a Bastien Alegot, CC BY 4.0 / 2021-02-28 / obs. 116197558
Lemna minuta, photographed by Grzegorz Grzejszczak
fig. b Grzegorz Grzejszczak, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 115076757
Lemna minuta, photographed by John Haddon
fig. c John Haddon, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 86735291
Lemna minuta, photographed by Татьяна Максимова
fig. d Татьяна Максимова, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 59509558
Lemna minuta, photographed by Stephen James McWilliam
fig. e Stephen James McWilliam, CC0 1.0 / obs. 53601867
Lemna minuta, photographed by Jason Grant
fig. f Jason Grant, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 23535998
Lemna minuta, photographed by LJ Moore-McClelland
fig. g LJ Moore-McClelland, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 9421549
Lemna minuta, photographed by Stephen James McWilliam
fig. h Stephen James McWilliam, CC0 1.0 / obs. 50746518

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 46 botanical countries

Regions where Lemna minuta is native: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mexico Central, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Northwest, Mexico Southwest, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Argentina Northeast, Argentina Northwest, Argentina South, Bolivia, Brazil North, Brazil Northeast, Brazil South, Brazil Southeast, Brazil West-Central, Chile Central, Chile North, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Jamaica, Leeward Is., Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Uruguay, Venezuela AlabamaArizonaArkansasCaliforniaColoradoFloridaGeorgiaIllinoisIndianaKansasKentuckyLouisianaMexico CentralMexico NortheastMexico NorthwestMexico SouthwestMissouriNebraskaNevadaNew MexicoOklahomaOregonTexasUtahVirginiaArgentina NortheastArgentina NorthwestArgentina SouthBoliviaBrazil NorthBrazil NortheastBrazil SouthBrazil SoutheastBrazil West-CentralChile CentralChile NorthColombiaEcuadorGuatemalaJamaicaParaguayPeruPuerto RicoUruguayVenezuela Leeward Is.
Native distribution of Lemna minuta, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Alabama ALA NORTHERN AMERICA
Arizona ARI
Arkansas ARK
California CAL
Colorado COL
Florida FLA
Georgia GEO
Illinois ILL
Indiana INI
Kansas KAN
Kentucky KTY
Louisiana LOU
Mexico Central MXC
Mexico Northeast MXE
Mexico Northwest MXN
Mexico Southwest MXS
Missouri MSO
Nebraska NEB
Nevada NEV
New Mexico NWM
Oklahoma OKL
Oregon ORE
Texas TEX
Utah UTA
Virginia VRG
Argentina Northeast AGE SOUTHERN AMERICA
Argentina Northwest AGW
Argentina South AGS
Bolivia BOL
Brazil North BZN
Brazil Northeast BZE
Brazil South BZS
Brazil Southeast BZL
Brazil West-Central BZC
Chile Central CLC
Chile North CLN
Colombia CLM
Ecuador ECU
Guatemala GUA
Jamaica JAM
Leeward Is. LEE
Paraguay PAR
Peru PER
Puerto Rico PUE
Uruguay URU
Venezuela VEN

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Also published as 7 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Lemna abbreviata (Hegelm.) Hegelm.
  • Lemna abbreviata Hglm.
  • Lemna minima (Hegelm.) Phil. ex Hegelm.
  • Lemna minima Chevall.
  • Lemna minuscula Herter
  • Lemna valdiviana var. abbreviata Hegelm.
  • Lemna valdiviana var. minima Hegelm.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.