| Author | Karsten | |
| Distribution | Widely scattered in the Coastal Plain, and one collection from the eastern Piedmont. As VA has fairly numerous collections -- about 15 counties -- there should be many more NC county records than just the five shown on the map. Certainly, this very tiny species is under-collected, and it likely is present over all of the Coastal Plain and into the the lower Piedmont.
This is a very widespread species across North America, from Canada south to southern FL, southern TX, and southern CA. There are relatively few collections from the southern Atlantic Coast states as compared with farther north and west, apparently a real distinction.
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| Abundance | Seemingly rare to very uncommon in the Coastal Plain, but certainly under-collected, owing to its tiny size. Presumably very rare in the Piedmont. The website editors recommend a Watch List status. | |
| Habitat | As with other duckweeds and watermeal species, it occurs on still waters of ponds, pools, lakes, and swamps. | |
| Phenology | Flowers are not usually seen. | |
| Identification | This floating species has no roots under the tiny fronds, which are barely 1 mm long at most. The shape is rather globoid or rounded, about as thick as wide. The similar W. brasiliensis has a more ellipsoid shape, distinctly flattened. Wolfiella gladiata also has no roots, but the fronds are sickle-shaped. The Lemna and Spirodela species have roots under the fronds. This species is considered to be the smallest vascular plant on earth. | |
| Taxonomic Comments | None
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| Other Common Name(s) | None | |
| State Rank | S2 [S2?] | |
| Global Rank | G5 | |
| State Status | [W7] | |
| US Status | | |
| USACE-agcp | OBL link |
| USACE-emp | OBL link |
