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  4. Landoltia punctata

Landoltia punctata

Landoltia (platelets with dark margins), Lemna disperma (smaller), Wolffia australiana (tiny), farm pond near Waverley. Apr 2012.<br>Photographer: Colin C. Ogle, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0'>CC BY-NC</a>. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>
Landoltia (platelets with dark margins), Lemna disperma (smaller), Wolffia australiana (tiny), farm pond near Waverley. Apr 2012.<br>Photographer: Colin C. Ogle, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0'>CC BY-NC</a>. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>
Landoltia punctata.<br>Photographer: Trevor James, Date taken: 11/12/2009, Licence: All rights reserved. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>
Landoltia punctata.<br>Photographer: Trevor James, Date taken: 11/12/2009, Licence: All rights reserved. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>
Roots and underside of plant. Meola Creek, Auckland (from material collected by Peter de Lange).<br>Photographer: Jeremy R. Rolfe, Date taken: 02/02/2014, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0'>CC BY</a>. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>
Roots and underside of plant. Meola Creek, Auckland (from material collected by Peter de Lange).<br>Photographer: Jeremy R. Rolfe, Date taken: 02/02/2014, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0'>CC BY</a>. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>
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Common name

purple-backed duckweed

Synonyms

Spirodela punctata (G. Meyer) C. Thompson

Family

Araceae

Authority

Landoltia punctata (G. Meyer) Les & DJ Crawford

Flora category

Vascular – Exotic

Structural class

Herbs - Monocots

NVS code

The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.

LANPUN

Brief description

Tiny, surface floating aquatic plant with bright green plate-like leaves (5 x 3 mm) that have a purple underside and more than one root per leaf.

Distribution

Widepsread and abundant in the North Island and northern South Island.

Habitat

Clear, still fertile water including, troughs, dams, drains and backwaters.

Features

Platelets usually with bright green uppersides, red-purple undersides and two or more roots per platelet. The leaves are generally thicker than those of Lemna. Flowers are small enclosed in a spathe within a lateral pouch on the platelet. Seeds are ribbed in a network with a prominent operculum.

Similar taxa

The native Lemna disperma is very similar but the root does not arise from a winged sheath. Landoltia has two or more roots arising from each platelet. Watermeal (Wolffia australiana) is much smaller and lacking roots. Azolla is an aquatic fern and has scale like leaves that overlap.

Flowering

November to March

Flower colours

Green

Fruiting

January to March

Life cycle

These tiny plants are readily spread by waterfowl.

Year naturalised

1929

Origin

Asia, Polynesia and Australiaa

Reason for introduction

Probably a contaminant of ornamental pond or aquarium plants.

Control techniques

Difficult to control once established.

Etymology

punctata: From the Latin punctatus ‘dotted’, referring to a patten of small round dots

Attribution

Factsheet prepared by Paul Champion and Deborah Hofstra (NIWA).

References and further reading

Johnson PN, Brooke PA (1989). Wetland plants in New Zealand. DSIR Field Guide, DSIR Publishing, Wellington. 319pp.

Aston, H (1977). Aquatic plants of Australia. Melbourne University Press, 367PP.; Popay et al (2010). An illustrated guide to common weeds of New Zealand, third edition. NZ Plant Protection Society Inc, 416pp.

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