Key to Lemna
View taxon page for Lemna
(For a list of species in Lemna, use the above link.)
Jepson Manual glossary definitions can be seen by moving your cursor over words underlined with dots.
1. Plant body 6–10 mm, on
tapered 
Gradually (not abruptly) narrower or smaller at base or tip.
stalk, often in branched chains of 8–30
..... L. trisulca 1' Plant body 1–6 mm, appearing
sessile 
Without a petiole, peduncle, pedicel, or other kind of stalk.
, single or generally in 2s to 8s
2. Veins per plant body 1 (sometimes obscure)
3. Plant body 1–2.5 mm, generally thinner at
margin, generally in 2s, not attached;
vein < 2/3 distance from
root attachment to tip of plant body
..... L. minuta 3' Plant body 2–4 mm, thin ± throughout, often in 4s to 8s, attached; vein up to 3/4 distance from root attachment to tip of plant body
..... L. valdiviana 2' Veins per plant body 3–5
4. Root sheath 
A surrounding or partially surrounding, often tubular structure or part of a structure, such as a leaf base in Apiaceae or Poaceae.
with 2 obvious, wing-like appendages at base
..... L. aequinoctialis 4' Root sheath not winged
5. Plant body widely
elliptic 
In the shape of a flattened circle or ellipse; wider than linear
to round, tip
asymmetric 
Not divisible into identical or mirror-image halves.
, lower surface generally
convex ..... L. gibba 5' Plant body widely elliptic to obovate, tip generally symmetric, lower surface flat
6. Upper surface generally smooth; lower surface green; winter
buds 
1. An incompletely developed, more or less embryonic shoot, usually covered with bud scales. 2. An unopened flower, often protected by sepals.
0
..... L. minor 6' Upper surface midline generally with row of minute bumps; lower surface often ± red in age; winter buds dark green or brown in fall
..... L. turionifera
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