Duckweed Earrings - Science Jewelry

Duckweed (Lemna minor) is a freshwater aquatic plant with small leaves that floats on the surface of ponds. It is a source of food for water birds and shelter for frogs and fish. Due to its ability to take up heavy metals like lead, copper, and arsenic, it has been used to bioremediate contaminated ponds and lakes. It is also a useful substrate for bioethanol production due to its low cellulose content. Lemna has been an important model system in biology since the 1950s due to its rapid growth in culture and its ability as a floating plant to easily take up labeled compounds from liquid media.

The Duckweed earrings are asymmetric: one earring has 3 fronds and one has 4 fronds. The head of each earring is approximately 1 cm (0.4 inch) in diameter and the post diameter is 0.85 mm (0.3 inch).

Earrings do not ship from Shapeways with earring backs. You will need to purchase these and attach them yourself. The post diameter of 0.85 mm will accomodate most standard size backs.