Tiny, Tinier, Tiniest - Plants

For the third time this week, we are going to see facts on the Tiniest in the world of Organisms. Today we are going to see facts on the Smallest Flowering Plant in the World. Now, the Criteria for today's fact is that the Organism should be a plant still in existence and the plant should be a Flowering Plant. So, the Plant that meets our criteria is the Wolffia Plant (Photograph on the right).

So, the Smallest Flowering Plant in the World is the Wolffia Plant whch bears the World's Smallest Flowers. It is a type of Duckweed in the Lemnacae Family of Plants . Wolffia is a genus of 9-11 species that include the world's smallest flowering plants. Commonly called Watermeal, these aquatic plants resemble specks of cornmeal floating on the water, thus the name 'Watermeal'. Fully grown, they measure only 300 Micrometres by 600 micrometres and reach a mass of just 150 micrograms. It is said that a bouquet of Wolffia Flowers would fit on the head of a pin. It is a very useful plant when we see from the commercial point of view, and has a great potential in commercial food use as it is 40% protein but it is also considered as a nuisance plant in some lakes and rivers in North America.

The last of the 'Tiniest' up tomorrow....