Duckweed is a valuable source of vitamins, minerals andfatty acids. It is used for food by people, used in folk medicine and agriculture, and it can be found even in a swamp. What is duckweed? How does she look? Where does duckweed grow? Let's try to answer these questions.
In Russia, cassocks called necklaces, on whichdensely planted pearls and beads. The plant with the name of duckweed reminds them a little. It exists in colonies, where many small individuals are closely connected with each other. The size of one plant usually does not exceed a centimeter.
Duckweed on the water forms a dense green layer.It belongs to the family of Aroids - aquatic monocotyledonous plants. The duckweed does not have a pronounced stalk, its vegetative body is represented by a leaf-like flute. A lot of other small plates are attached to the flap along the sides, and a root is attached to the bottom. The plates of duckweed are thick, fleshy, on top are painted in light green color, and from below - white or yellowish. They are shiny, sometimes they have red specks. The shape of the plate is elongated or oval. Some species have absolutely no roots. In others, they move away from the records. The roots are thin, not branched, they look like long single or bundled strands.
Duckweed is an aquatic plant.It does not cling to the bottom, but simply floats in the upper layers of the water. Despite its tiny size, the plant is able to bloom and bear fruit. This happens very rarely. White or yellow flowers are not too expressive and collected in the inflorescence, and the fruits are formed in the form of sacs. There are about ten different types of plants, among them duckweed, mushroom, small, triple, common mulberry, etc. Almost all of them are perennial and differ from each other in the form of leaves, the breeding season, the number and type of roots.
The best temperature for duckweed is 20-28 degrees.Although it can normally exist in the range of 6 to 33 degrees Celsius. At a good time, the pond where the duckweed grows can be completely covered by this plant. She can not stand the cold and can die. In winter, it forms a kidney-tourist. It contains a lot of starch and is heavier than water, so it sinks to the bottom, waiting for bad times. In spring the kidney rises to the surface and continues the life cycle.
Duckweed is common on all continents of the Earth,except Antarctica. The plant prefers places with a warm and humid climate, but it exists in regions of the temperate zone. There duckweed, most likely, came with the help of animals and eventually naturalized. It can be found in 42 states of the USA, in the countries of Northern, Central, Southern and Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, Central and West Asia, various parts of Africa (except central), the Hindustan peninsula, the Canary and Azores.
Places where duckweed grows are ponds with a standingfresh water. It appears on swamps, some lakes and ponds. The plant appears even in ornamental ponds. On the water, duckweed grows rapidly, like a weed, and it is extremely difficult to get out of the pond. To get rid of it, use various water filters or run ducks in the pond that eat duckweed.
Swamp duckweed can eat many animals,for example, waterfowl, lizards, frogs, newts. They also carry the plant hundreds of kilometers from its native reservoir. A person uses duckweed in economic activities and traditional medicine. In agriculture, the plant is specially grown and mixed into the feed of cattle, pigs and poultry. It is also used to purify water in ponds, starets and other water bodies. It is used to detect various substances in water. So, duckweed is very sensitive to chlorine and at its smallest concentrations ceases to grow, and at high content it dies.
In tropical countries this aquatic planteat. In our locality they are more often interested in for use in folk recipes. House duckweed can be used in aquariums as a water purifier and feeding for fish.
Duckweed and other plant species containa large number of fatty acids, protein, flavonoids, carotenoids and tannins. The plant is rich in vitamins of group B, PP, vitamin C and E. It also has many minerals important for the development of the body. So, in the duckweed there is iodine, bromine, phosphorus, silicon, copper, iron, zinc. With a strong heat, duckweed can reduce body temperature, increase the body's defenses. It is used as a remedy against helminths and other parasites, to strengthen the body. Duckweed has analgesic and anti-inflammatory properties.
In addition to the benefits for humans, the grass has andother properties. During photosynthesis, it releases a lot of oxygen and saturates it with a body of water. At the same time, it accumulates and recycles phosphorus and heavy metals, discharged by enterprises. These plant capacities are used for cleaning heavily polluted sewage, as well as for improving the quality of domestic drinking water.
In non-traditional medicine duckweed is used againstrheumatism, gout, ulcers, glaucoma, various skin diseases, for example, furunculosis and acne. Like other medicines, the plant is not suitable for everyone. It can exacerbate certain types of nervous disorders and other ailments. Nevertheless, it is used to get rid of allergies, liver diseases and the gastrointestinal tract. The plant facilitates the condition with inflammation, edema. In dystrophies duckweed is used as an additional source of protein. Grass is collected in summer in clean water. It is caught with a fine sieve or gauze, then washed, cleaned of excess korynok and dried. After the plant, make infusions on water or vodka, ground into powder.
