Miniaturization of duckweeds occurred through compression of the angiosperm body plan.

Duckweed miniaturization results from organ fusion and restricted cell division, reducing body size without losing major structures, unlike in some animals.

• Why it matters: Understanding plant miniaturization fills a knowledge gap, as mechanisms are less clear compared to animals, and it can reveal how plants adapt to extreme size reduction.
• What they did: Researchers examined the duckweed frond through transcriptional analysis, identifying distinct zones with stem and leaf characteristics, and compared cell division patterns to other plants.
• The result: Findings suggest miniaturization in duckweeds occurs via organ fusion and limited cell division, enabling tiny size while maintaining structural complexity, informing evolutionary and developmental biology.