duckweed

American  

[duhk-weed] / ˈdʌkˌwid /

noun

1. any plant of the family Lemnaceae, especially of the genus Lemna, comprising small aquatic plants that float free on still water.

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duckweed British  

/ ˈdʌkˌwiːd /

noun

1. any of various small stemless aquatic plants of the family Lemnaceae, esp any of the genus Lemna, that have rounded leaves and occur floating on still water in temperate regions

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Etymology

Origin of duckweed

1400–50; late Middle English dockewede; so called because eaten by ducks

Example Sentences

Tia-Lynn Ashman and Martin Turcotte, evolutionary ecologists at the University of Pittsburgh, have also studied polyploidy in duckweed populations.

From Science Magazine • Aug. 23, 2023

As part of their environmental science class, high school juniors and seniors were building a natural filtration system to clear out duckweed, prevalent in the wetlands they are working to restore.

From Seattle Times • May 12, 2023

Second, duckweed can thrive in agricultural pollution from, say, pig and poultry farms—potentially cleaning up some of the nitrogen and phosphorus such farms release into the water.

From Scientific American • Jan. 25, 2023

Until now, the project has studied the growth of duckweed in laboratories and in tanks on land owned by the universities.

From BBC • Dec. 30, 2022

The majority of them were attached to bricks, but some were on the roots of duckweed, the stems of water-plants, and the tips of creepers falling into water.

From Freshwater Sponges, Hydroids & Polyzoa by Annandale, Nelson