Duckweed

Duckweeds, considered the smallest flowering plants, are in the Lemnoideae family and are currently coating our ponds. I think this is Common Duckweed, aka Lesser Duckweed (Lemna minor). The tiny floating leaves make good landing pads for all sorts of tiny creatures, just one aspect of this aquatic plant’s part in the freshwater web. A number of animals eat the plant, notably the ducks it’s named for, and it provides shelter for fish, reptiles, and amphibians, in addition to insects and other invertebrates. It is also good at extracting excess nitrogen and phosphates from human-fouled waterbodies.