duckweed

noun

Etymology: From duck + weed. Supposedly so-named for often being consumed by ducks and other waterfowl. Compare Middle English dokemete (“duckweed”, literally “duck-food”).

1. Any of several reduced floating aquatic plants in the subfamily Lemnoideae of the family Araceae.

   “He that vvould diſcern the rudimentall ſtroak of a plant, may behold it in the Originall of Duckvveed, at the bigneſſe of a pins point, from convenient vvater in glaſſes, vvherein a vvatchfull eye may alſo diſcover the puncticular Originals of Perivvincles and Gnats.”

   “But his face was a face of such happiness that, had you seen it, you would have understood indeed how that he had died happy, never knowing that cool and streaming silver for the duckweed in the pond.”