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Asked by anon-44771 to Amelia, Clem, Izzy, Sarah on 18 Mar 2014.
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Isabel Webb answered on 18 Mar 2014:
The smallest plant in the world is Wolffia, also known as duckweed. These are aquatic plants that are usually found floating in pairs or groups. They are tiny (0.6-1.2mm long), and are made up of a single unit containing organs needed to reproduce. They are actually very high in protein, and are sometimes eaten as a vegetable in Asia (although you’d need to gather quite a lot!).
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anon answered on 18 Mar 2014:
Strictly speaking, microscopic algae could be seen as plants, this is the kind of thing scientists still argue about nowadays.
They photosynthesize as plants do, and it is thought that vascular plants as you and i know them evolved from them!
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Amelia Frizell-Armitage answered on 18 Mar 2014:
This definitely depends how you define plant. If you just mean flowering plant then duckweed is definitely the smallest as Isabel said.
However, I’m tempted to agree with Michael and say microscopic algae are the smallest plants. These algae cells are able to photosynthesise, and are what green plants actually evolved from. If algae never existed then plants wouldn’t either!
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