Roots to 1.5 cm, tip rounded to pointed; sheath not winged. Stipes white, small, often decaying. Fronds floating, 1 or 2--few, coherent in groups, obovate, flat to thickish (but not gibbous), 0.8--4 mm, 1--2 times as long as wide, margins entire; veins 1, sometimes indistinct, very rarely longer than extension of air spaces, not longer than 2/3 of distance between node and apex; with or without small papillae along midline; anthocyanin absent; largest air spaces much shorter than 0.3 mm; turions absent. Flowers: ovaries 1-ovulate, utricular scale open on 1 side. Fruits 0.6--1 mm, not winged. Seeds with 12--15 distinct ribs. 2n = 36 (U), 40 (U), 42 (G). Flowering (very rare) late spring--early fall. Mesotrophic to eutrophic, quiet waters in temperate to subtropical regions with relatively mild winters; 0--2600 m; Ala., Ariz., Ark., Calif., Colo., Fla., Ga., Ill., Ind., Kans., Ky., La., Mich., Mo., Nebr., Nev., N.Mex., Ohio, Okla., Oreg., Tenn., Tex., Utah, Wash., W.Va., Wyo.; Mexico; West Indies; Central America; South America; introduced, Eurasia (introduced). I know of no specimens of Lemna minuta from Mississippi, but the species is to be expected there.

Plant: Small aquatic plant Leaves: FRONDS floating on the water's surface, single or 2 to a few cohering in small groups, obovate, 0.8-4.0 mm long, 1-2 times as long as wide, flat to thickish (but not gibbous), without a green stalk but with a very small white stipe that often decays; margins entire; nerve 1, sometimes indistinct, very rarely longer than the extension of the air spaces, not longer than 2/3 of the distance between the attaching point of the root and the apex; papillae small, present or not on midline; anthocyanin absent; air spaces much smaller than 0.3 mm; the sheath unwinged, the tip rounded or somewhat pointed; turions absent Flowers: rather rare, l-ovulate, the small utricular scale open on one side Fruit: 0.6-1.0 mm long, not winged. SEEDS: with 12-15 ribs Misc: Mesotrophic to slightly eutrophic, quiet waters; below 2100 m (7000 ft); May-Sep Notes: root up to 1.5 cm long REFERENCES: Landolt, Elias. 1992. Lemnaceae. Ariz.-Nev. Acad. Sci. 26(1)2.