Index / Search / Spirodela polyrrhiza

§1 Plant

Spirodela polyrrhiza (L.) Schleid.

vernacular common duckmeat — species · Lemnaceae


USDA
SPPO
GBIF
4097481
Rank
species
common duckmeat (Spirodela polyrrhiza)
Platephotograph · psweetCC BY-SA source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Forb/herb
Duration
Perennial
Group
Monocot
Family
Lemnaceae Martinov
Genus
Spirodela
§2a

Native status, by region

  • CAN Canada Native
  • HI Hawaii Native
  • L48 Lower 48 States Native
  • PR Puerto Rico Native
  • VI U.S. Virgin Islands Native
§2b

County-level range

· 934 counties across 40 states/territories
Legend Native · 934 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
None
Shade
Medium
Moisture use
High
Salinity
None
Anaerobic
High
CaCO₃
Medium
Hedging
None
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
-38 °F minimum
Frost-free days
120 min.
Precipitation
12–55 in/yr
pH range
5–8.6
Root depth
0 in min.
Fertility need
Medium
Soil texture
medium, fine
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Single Crown
Growth rate
Moderate
Lifespan
Short
Foliage texture
Fine
Foliage colour
Green
Porosity (summer)
Porous
Porosity (winter)
Porous
Flower colour
Green
Fruit colour
Brown
Fire resistant
Yes
N fixation
None
Toxicity
None
§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period
Late Summer
Seed abundance
Low
Seed begins
Summer
Seed ends
Fall
Spread rate
Slow
Stratify
No
Propagation
seed, sprigs
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
Routinely Available
Nursery stock
No
Palatable, human
No
Lumber
No
Christmas tree
No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 934 counties across 40 states/territories.

Alabama view state ↗ 23 N
Arizona view state ↗ 4 N
Arkansas view state ↗ 15 N
Colorado view state ↗ 3 N
Delaware view state ↗ 1 N
District of Columbia view state ↗ 1 N
Florida view state ↗ 20 N
Georgia view state ↗ 16 N
Idaho view state ↗ 8 N
Illinois view state ↗ 81 N
Indiana view state ↗ 48 N
Iowa view state ↗ 12 N
Kansas view state ↗ 45 N
Kentucky view state ↗ 36 N
Louisiana view state ↗ 31 N
Maine view state ↗ 10 N
Massachusetts view state ↗ 12 N
Michigan view state ↗ 46 N
Minnesota view state ↗ 57 N
Mississippi view state ↗ 9 N
Missouri view state ↗ 48 N
Montana view state ↗ 1 N
Nebraska view state ↗ 27 N
New Hampshire view state ↗ 7 N
New Jersey view state ↗ 20 N
New York view state ↗ 43 N
North Carolina view state ↗ 23 N
North Dakota view state ↗ 9 N
Ohio view state ↗ 31 N
Oklahoma view state ↗ 8 N
Pennsylvania view state ↗ 39 N
Rhode Island view state ↗ 3 N
South Carolina view state ↗ 6 N
South Dakota view state ↗ 8 N
Tennessee view state ↗ 23 N
Texas view state ↗ 39 N
Vermont view state ↗ 9 N
Virginia view state ↗ 49 N
West Virginia view state ↗ 5 N
Wisconsin view state ↗ 58 N

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/SPPO ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/4097481 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T11:35:19Z