World's Smallest Flowering Plant

World's Smallest Flowering Plant

Wolffia Anguste
FAMILY: Araceae/Lemnaceae

Wolffia angusta, a rootless water plant, is regarded as the world's smallest flowering plant. Its fruits are also the smallest known. Shaped like a blob, it is only around one millimetre round, or as little as only just over half a millimetre long and about 0.2mm wide. Native to Australia, Asia and the Pacific, they are composed of about 40% protein, like the soybean, and are edible to humans, being used as supplement for some mammals. In fact, they are a recognised food in some parts of Asia - albeit in significant quantities! It is also a good food source for fish, waterfowl and ruminant mammals. The plants are part of the Duckweed family, and float in freshwater habitats. The green flowers are barely noticeable, almost leaflike, and in any case the plant reproduces vegetatively. Each plant, or frond, will reproduce several times before dying.

FRUIT: Resembling a tiny fig, the fruit weighs around 0.00007 g. The seeds are freeze-resistant.
Considering that entire plants and many of them may be wholly devoured in one attempt by many animals, it is fair to say that virtually every living creature is a potential predator of Wolffia angusta. However, most of the duckweeds, including Wolffia angusta suffer few actual pests per se, one reason they are often chosen to be grown as animal feed and for protein supplementation.