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Floats on the Water
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Posted by
jekeesl (
My Page) on
Wed, Oct 10, 12 at 11:24
| These small objects were floating on top of still water along the edge of a pond. They�re roughly 0.100 inch long by 0.050 inch wide, and do not have any roots. Many of the specimens have curved, translucent edges along one side that are rippled or toothed. Some specimens have darker green areas in the center. Many have small projections at the larger end, where the two straight edges meet. Is this plant, bug, or seed?
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Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Floats on the Water
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- Posted by remy 6WNY (My Page) on
Thu, Oct 11, 12 at 19:08
My gut reaction was seed.
Remy |
RE: Floats on the Water
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| Mine too. I tried to match them up to one of the Wolffia species, but not quite a fit. Just surprised that seeds would be in such a tight colony on one small patch of the water. Anyway, was time to move this post down the list, so thanks for the reply, Remy. |
RE: Floats on the Water
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| Probably a dumb question, but that's not duckweed? |
RE: Floats on the Water
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| Hi purpleinopp. I checked our five genera in the Duckweed family before the initial post. Wolffia species were similar in size, but did not have those odd shapes. I ran out of ideas for plants, hence the post. Since none of the smart people here recognized it, that suggested it was something other than plant. I was disappointed, as the Duckweed species are on my list of new things to learn about. In fact, I now carry a couple of freezer baggies on my morning walks, so I can capture samples for a later, leisurely review. |
RE: Floats on the Water
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| I keep thinking they look like immature Asclepias seeds, but why would they be in the pond? |
RE: Floats on the Water
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| immature Ulmus crassifolia seed? |
Here is a link that might be useful: Ulmus crassifolia
RE: Floats on the Water
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| But these are just under 0.1 inch long and half that width - surely grass or something small, if seed. Anyway, they were interesting to see. |
RE: Floats on the Water
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- Posted by carrieb 7 Philadelphia (My Page) on
Fri, Oct 12, 12 at 21:48
| Did you not take a photo of them while still in the water? I don't know why, but think it could be useful. |
RE: Floats on the Water
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| Carrieb, I don't have any shots in the water, but they looked just like they do on the tip of my walking stick. I do have one more closeup from home, which is interesting. And when I checked with the 10x lens, there were definitely no roots. Here's the final shot, just for fun. This specimen will go into the unsolved file. |
RE: Floats on the Water
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- Posted by remy 6WNY (My Page) on
Fri, Oct 12, 12 at 22:14
Definitely a seed of some sort. Whether it is suppose to be in the water, well that depends on the genus, and we don't know what it is. I would not expect to see sprouts this time of year whether it belongs there or not. Seeds are designed to sprout at the correct time of year. Many perennial seeds need to go through a winter cycle before sprouting can occur. If it was a seed that does not need a winter to sprout like many annuals, it most likely would need warmer temperatures to sprout.
Remy |
RE: Floats on the Water
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| That last image show the beak of the achene quite well. Could be the achenes of Sagittaria latifolia. |
RE: Floats on the Water
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| Holy smokes lycopus. There are a few S. latifolia specimens in that general area. I don't know how you figured that one out, but Internet phtos of S. latifolia achenes are very similar to the specimens in my photos. Thanks a bunch!! |
RE: Floats on the Water
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| Achenes are a good diagnostic characteristic to use on herbarium specimens of Sagittaria. Needless to say I've looked at quite a few achenes. |
RE: Floats on the Water
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- Posted by remy 6WNY (My Page) on
Sun, Oct 14, 12 at 13:20
Very cool that you recognized it Lycopus!
Remy |
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