Species name :

Spirodela oligorrhiza(Kurz) Hegelm
Published in (Kurz) Hegelm., Lemnac. 147 (1868)

Synonyms :
(basionym or principal syn.)

Lemna oligorrhiza

Full list of synonyms : [Euro+Med] [PlantList] [IPNI] [POWO] [Catalogue of Life ]

Plant Family :

Araceae Juss. (The Arum Family)
8 species from the Araceae family are recorded from the Maltese Islands.

English name(s) :

Dotted Duckweed

Maltese name(s) :

Lemna ta' ftit gheruq

Status for Malta :

Species that was introduced in Malta after year 1492 and spreads to form established, non-invasive populations. It may become become invasive if it widespreads rapidly.

Frequency :

Very Common     Common     Frequent     Scarce     Rare     Very rare     Extinct

Growth form :

Raunkiaer lifeform [info]: HYDROPHYTE (living only in water)
Germination [info]: Monocotyledon

Legal Protection [link]:

Not Protected by Law (LN200/2011 or LN311/2006)

Red List (1989) :

Not listed in the Red Data Book of the Maltese Islands

Flowering Time :

Mar-May

Colour of Flowers:

Inconspicuous

Remarks :

A New record for the Maltese Islands discovered by Stephen Mifsud in April 2008.

Habitat in Europe:

Data will be available in the next update of this website.

Preferred habitat in Malta:

Flooded areas, namely open reservoirs, stagnant water bodies in valleys, temporary ponds. Nitrophilous plant hence often present in water polluted from nitrate leeching.

Botanical Description:

with fronds 2-5 mm and roots 2-5 per frond, has been recorded from rice-fields in N.W. Italy (S. of Matara) and is perhaps becoming naturalized.

Distributional range:

NO DATA

Distributional map in Europe
and the Mediterranean region (2018):

Occurrences in Europe and the Mediterranean region.
(Euro+Med Checklist, 2017) - Country codes

[Ca(T) Eg nIt]