What is Watermeal?

About Watermeal

• Watermeal is an aquatic plant in the Araceae family.
• It is the smallest flowering plant in the world and appears assmall green seeds. 
• It is often referred to as “duckweed” because it is a favorite food of ducks.

Distribution

• It flourishes in temperate, sub-tropical, and tropical locations.
• They grow on the surface of lakes, ponds, and marshes.

Features

• It is a very tiny (less than 1 millimeter) light green, free-floating, rootless plant. 
• It is branchless and also has no leaves.
• It consists of a single, oval, or spherical frond that floats on the surface of still or slow-moving water bodies.
• It also produces the world’s smallest fruit, called a utricle.
• It is a nutritional powerhouse. It is a complete protein, meaning that it contains all nine essential amino acids.
• In some cases, watermeal can become invasive and form dense mats that cover the entire surface of a water body.

Q1: What is an invasive species?

An invasive species is an organism that is not indigenous, or native, to a particular area. Invasive species can cause great economic and environmental harm to the new area.

Source: Earth’s smallest flowering plant may become food, oxygen source for astronauts

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