File talk:River algae Sichuan.jpg
Latest comment: 6 years ago by CharlesHBennett in topic Might this be duckweed (Lemna) rather than algae?
Might this be duckweed (Lemna) rather than algae? edit
On freshwater lakes, a uniform opaque green surface like this is often due to myriads of duckweed Lemna, tiny flowering plants unrelated to algae, carpeting the surface. Since the duckweed floats on the surface, the water under it is clear, and if the surface is disturbed, e.g. by a duck swimming past or a human hand, a gap in the green results. There seems to be such a gap near one of the horizontal slabs by the footbridge at the top of the picture.CharlesHBennett (talk) 05:20, 6 January 2018 (UTC)