Spirodela punctata (or Landoltia punctata, common name dotted duckmeat) is a species of duckweed (Lemnoideae). The species is morphologically intermediate between Lemna and other species of Spirodela. In 1999 D.H. Les and D.J. Crawford proposed segregating the species to a new genus Landoltia containing just the species L. punctata, on the basis of biochemical and DNA studies. S. punctata originally was found in Australia and South Asia, but today it can also be found in the Southern and Eastern United States.
No narrative description available for this taxon yet.
⚠ sources differ — GIFT: herb · AusTraits: herb · TRY: Aquatic
Habitat GIFTLowland
Leaf shapeobovate
Woodinessnon-woody
Physiology & chemistry2
Nitrogen fixingnon_nitrogen_fixer
Photosynthetic pathwayC3
Other traits1
Seeds per fruit0
03Chemical composition1 compounds
Compounds documented for Spirodela punctata across natural-product and food-composition databases — not just the ~150 nutrients on a classic label ("nutritional dark matter").
Compound class profile1 class
Flavones1
Documented compounds1 total
Compound
Class
Amount
Source
Flavonoid LP
present
LOTUS
05DNA & barcoding36 specimens
A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Spirodela punctata has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
DNA specimens36
Marker genes4
eDNA detections34
Countries3
Marker genes sequenced
★ the standard DNA barcode for this group — the short region actually read to tell this species apart. The rest are extra genes sequenced along the way.
★matK★rbcL★rbcLa★ITS
plant barcodefungal barcode
06Genome at a glanceCCDB
The complete instruction manualSpirodela punctata carries — its genome. We read it from three angles — how big it is, how the DNA is packed into chromosomes, and how completely it has been sequenced — and explain how to read each value as you go.
Chromosomes & ploidyhow the DNA is packaged
2n is the full chromosome count in a normal body cell; n is a gamete (egg or sperm), which carries half. Ploidy is how many complete chromosome sets each cell holds — 2× (diploid) is typical for animals, while higher levels (polyploidy) are common in plants. Click any value below to see the underlying records and sources.
Chromosome-count records — grouped by value · 2n = full set, n = gamete · click a value for sources & references
2n 301×CCDB · araceae
CCDB · araceae — Landolt, 1986
2n 461×CCDB · kew
CCDB · kew — Geber G. 1989. Zur Karyosystematik der Lemnaceae. Ph. D. Thesis, University of Vienna, Vienna.
07Deep time~42.8 Ma lineage
How far back this lineage goes — and how we know. Everything here is measured in Ma, short for “mega-annum”: millions of years ago. The chart reads left to right like a calendar of the Earth, from the deep past on the left to today at the right edgetop to bottom like a core drilled through the Earth, from the deep past at the top down to today at the bottom.
At a glance
DNA clock origin42.8 Ma TimeTree
When this lineage existed
How to read this: the coloured strip along the bottomdown the left is the geological calendar — the standard epochs (Pliocene, Pleistocene…) every museum uses, shown so you can see which chapter of Earth's history this lineage lived in. This lineage is a young one, so the strip is zoomed in to epochs — the finer subdivisions inside a period. The orange marker is the DNA clock: DNA accumulates mutations at a roughly steady rate, so comparing this species' DNA with its relatives estimates when the lineage split off — independently of any fossil.
DNA clock origin
08Occurrence & distribution
Record type222 records
Wild obs. + sensor11
Museum / vouchered210
Other1
Origin
Native3
Range
Area of Occupancy AOO720 km²
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Coordinate accuracy57% within 1 km
≤100 m 2≤1 km 2≤10 km 3
7 georeferenced · 4 without coordinates
Open the mapobservation + sensor11
Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence
Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.
Coordinate accuracy52% within 1 km
≤100 m 6≤1 km 27≤10 km 17>10 km 13
63 georeferenced · 147 without coordinates
Open the institutions mapphysical evidence210
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
10Collections & institutions
Holding institutions36 of 55 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
Institution
Specimens
Pretoria, ZA
30
Tuscaloosa, US
28
Miami, US
12
Durban, ZA
11
Odawara, JP
8
Pontificia Universidad Javeriana (PUJ)location not on record
8
Fort Worth, US
6
Kew, GB
6
Williamsburg, US
5
National Institute of Biological Resourceslocation not on record
4
Fayetteville, US
4
Bangkok, TH
4
Columbia, US
4
Xiamen, CN
4
Austin, US
4
DOI/NPS, Mississippi National River & Recreation Arealocation not on record
4
Arcata, US
4
EL PASO, US
3
Sanda, JP
3
TAIElocation not on record
3
Corvallis, US
3
Bronx, US
3
College Park, US
2
Norfolk, US
2
Aarhus, DK
2
CASlocation not on record
2
San Jose State University, Museum of Birds and Mammalslocation not on record
2
San Diego, US
2
Taipei, TW
2
Riverside, US
2
Phoenix, US
1
Museo naturalistico del Frignano Ferruccio Minghellilocation not on record
1
Museu Nacional, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeirolocation not on record
1
IPA/SPlocation not on record
1
Canadian Department of Agriculturelocation not on record
1
San Diego Natural History Museum, Herbariumlocation not on record
1
UChlocation not on record
1
DOI/NPS, Little Rock Central High School National Historic Sitelocation not on record
1
Paris, FR
1
Osaka, JP
1
Saint Louis, US
1
Claremont, US
1
San Diego Natural History Museumlocation not on record
1
DOI/NPS, Colonial National Historical Parklocation not on record
1
University of Southern Mississippilocation not on record
1
Cambridge, US
1
Nishihara, JP
1
St. Paul, US
1
Chapel Hill, US
1
LDlocation not on record
1
Flagstaff, US
1
SLU Artdatabankenlocation not on record
1
BClocation not on record
1
Madison, US
1
Dekalb, US
1
55 institutions · 202 of 210 vouchered records shown · 6 without an institution code
09Environmental DNA34 detections
Where the DNA of Spirodela punctata was picked up in samples of water, soil or air — nobody saw the organism, only its DNA left behind. A trace is a clue that the species was near, not a confirmed sighting.
Signal
Detections DNA found34
Studies independent surveys1
Countries2
Signal confidence: weakweighed across independent studies, places & mapped detections
Where its DNA was found
0 of 34 detections have coordinates
Open the map2 countries0
Freshwater marsh; L. gibba, L. minuscula (no…
How strong is each trace?
DNA read depthRead counts were not reported for this species — the map shows presence only, not how strong each trace was.
Modelled climatemodelled
−15°Ctemperature across detection sites+40°C
Temperature median15.4 °C 15.4–20.9
Seasonal swing summer↔winter15.3 °C
Max temp (day)20.5 °C 20.5–27.6
Min temp (night)10.4 °C 10.4–15.6
Precipitation70.4 mm/mo 16.9–70.4
Air humidity57.7 %
Moisture balance-28.0 mm/mo -139–-28.0
Vapour deficit804 Pa 804–1,071
Wind speed2.90 m/s 1.60–2.90
Cloud cover41.2 % 20.7–41.2
CHELSA 1981–2010, ~9 km grid, at location & month of 3 detection points · median with p10–p90 · reflects where sampling happened, not only the true niche
How to read this: each dot is one detection of this species' DNA in an environmental sample. The confidence meter weighs how many independent studies and places back up the signal — one detection in one study is a hint; many across several studies is solid. Records dated before 2008 (when eDNA methods began) are treated as likely mislabeled and left off the map.
WikipediaWikimedia Foundation6 languages↗
BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗
GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility222 records↗
ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI34 eDNA detections↗
BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics36 specimens↗
LOTUSNatural Products (Wikidata)compounds↗
CCDBChromosome Counts DB · Tel Aviv U.genome & karyotype↗