THE SMALLEST FLOWERING PLANT.
The smallest flowering plant is Wolffia microscopira, a native of India. It belongs to the duckweed family. It is almost microscopic in size, destitute of proper stun, leaves and roots, but having these organs merged in one, forming a frond. There is a prolongation of the lower surface, the purpose of which seems to be to enable the plant to float upright in the water. The fronds multiply by sending out other fronds from a slit or concavity, and with such rapidity does this take place that a few dajs often suffice to produce from a few individuals enough similar ones to cover many square rods of pond surface with the minute green granules. Small as these plants are, they bear flowers. Two are produced on a plant, each of them very simple, one of a single stamen and the other of a single pistil, both of which burst through the upper surface of the frond.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/NZGRAP18910307.2.31.7
Bibliographic details
New Zealand Graphic, Volume VII, Issue 10, 7 March 1891, Page 14
Word Count
160THE SMALLEST FLOWERING PLANT. New Zealand Graphic, Volume VII, Issue 10, 7 March 1891, Page 14
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Acknowledgements
This material was digitised in partnership with Auckland Libraries. You can find high resolution images on Kura Heritage Collections Online.