Delightful duckweed

A wavery green blanket has been undulating across the surface of Little Lake Erie just behind The River Reporter’s office in Narrowsburg, NY. The design of this natural artwork changes throughout the day. Staff members watch from windows, keeping tabs on the most current expressions of the exuberant bloom of duckweed.

At a distance, the blanket appears to possess a uniform surface and is often misperceived as a “slime” covering the water. But on closer examination, it is evident that the vibrant green cloak is actually composed of thousands of tiny lentil-shaped plants with dangling roots that become tangled and form mats. Wind and water currents move the carpet around, creating a constantly evolving, and often quite beautiful, design.

Duckweeds are a family of small aquatic plants typically found in still or slow-moving water, like that of marshes, ponds and lakes. Duckweed is one of the world’s smallest flowering plants, with miniature flowers appearing within equally tiny pockets.

As their name suggests, duckweeds are favored as a food source by ducks, though turtles, fish and beavers also relish the nutritious plants. Today, duckweeds are even incorporated into livestock feed for chickens, pigs, cows and, of course, ducks.

Duckweeds are great water purifiers, removing nitrogen and phosphates from water polluted by sewage and animal wastes as well as fertilizer runoff from yards and farms. Duckweeds thrive on such pollutants, multiplying quickly and sometimes creating a nuisance due to their abundance.

Conversely, duckweeds provide shelter for various reptiles, amphibians, small mammals and insects.