This was my initial assumption, but what I saw (bad photos) did not
look like Wolfia. The photo showed something that resembled a moss
capsule with a long narrow seta. Wolfia, if you could see it, would
have a small spadix (no threadlike stalk and no swelling at the top -
even though I've never seen one in flower).
On Fri, 09 Nov 2007 08:41:10 -0500
Kathleen Archer <kathleen.archer from trincoll.edu> wrote:
> The smallest flowering plant I know is Wolffia, a little bigger than
>a poppy seed, but smaller than a radish seed. Aquatic, often found
>floating with Lemna. I don't know about the 3000 year flowering
>interval, but I do know I look for it and have never seen in in
>flower. I've attached a picture found on the web that shows it next
>to some duckweed to give a sense of scale.
> Kathleen
>>>>> At 03:49 PM 11/8/2007, Scott Shumway wrote:
>>One of my colleagues just showed me a clipping from a Chinese
>>newspaper reporting on tiny / microscopic plant that is now in bloom
>>in several locations around the world. The pictures looked to me
>>like moss capsules, but the translation was "flowers". Supposedly
>>Buddhist legend reports that these flowers appear once every 3000
>>years and bring good luck. The article was in Chinese and did not
>>appear to include a Latin name.
>>>>Does anyone know what this plant is??
>>>>Thanks.
>>>>_______________________________________________
>>Plant-ed mailing list
>>Plant-ed from net.bio.net>>http://www.bio.net/biomail/listinfo/plant-ed
Scott Shumway
Professor of Biology
Wheaton College
Norton, MA 02766
