Watermeal

Other Common Names:

(Wolffia columbiana)

Native

Watermeal is a tiny floating plant that makes swirls across the water and looks like bright green strawberry seeds up close.

Description

Light to bright green, individual watermeal plants look like little granules of corn meal. Watermeal often makes swirls on the water, floating and blowing around with the wind. Each plant grows to be thirty-nine thousandths of an inch to fifty-nine thousandths of an inch long, about the size of a pinhead. Watermeal plants are spherical or oval shaped and have no roots. It is the smallest flowering plant in the world; flowers can only be seen through a microscope.

 

Many people confuse watermeal for duckweed. People are disheartened when their duckweed treatment does not fully work on what is really watermeal. Watermeal can be knocked back by many products but will not completely die off. Proper identification can help save time, effort, and money.

Location

Watermeal can be found across the United States.

Propagation

seeds