Zostera marina L.                                                                           Zosteraceae (Eel-Grass Family)                                                                                   Native                                                                          Eel-Grass

                                           January Photo

Plant Characteristics:  Submerged marine perennial with creeping rhizomes; stems branched, 1-3 m. long; lvs. 3-15 dm. long, (2-) 6-12 mm. wide, with 3-7 main nerves, tip generally obtuse; plants monoecious, the fls. arranged on 1 side of a flattened axis or spadix 2.5-6 cm. long, bearing ca. 10-20 of each kind of fls.; staminate fls. reduced to a single anther, arranged alternately in 2 rows on the spadix; anthers escape from the spathe and discharge threadlike pollen into the water; pistillate fls. an ovary with 2 stigmas and 1 ovule, the stigmas protruding through the spathe and dropping off before anthers of same spadix open; mature carpels flasklike, beaked, forming a utricle that is indehiscent or bursting irregularly, seed without endosperm, 20 ribbed, ca. 3 mm. long

Habitat:  Shallow water of bays, usually in muddy bottoms in the intertidal zone; San Diego to Alaska; Atlantic Coast; Eurasia.  June-Sept. (Munz, Flora So. Calif. 1015).

Name:  Greek, zoster, a girdle or band, because of the ribbonlike leaves. (Munz. Flora So. Calif. 1015).  Latin, marinus, of the sea.  (Jaeger 150).

General:  Rare in the study with only one colony known and this just above the Coast Highway bridge on the westerly side of the bay.  Because of the heavy mud I was unable to get to the colony but photographed it from a distance, then found specimens washed up on the beach and photographed those. ( my comments).        Of great importance as food for waterfowl.  (Munz, Flora So. Calif. 1015).      There has been some tendency to refer to the Pacific Coast plants as var. latifolia, with lvs. 6-12 mm. wide and seeds not ribbed, while var. marina would refer to the Atlantic plants, but the differences seem untenable.  (Munz, Flora So. Calif. 1015).       Important food source for marine animals, some aboriginal humans.  (Hickman, Ed. 1312).       The leaves of the Pacific Coast plant are usually somewhat broader than those of the Atlantic coast, and for this reason it has been referred to as Zostera marina, var. latifolia.  Several detailed studies have provided evidence that the differences, which separate the two forms, are mainly quantitative and seem to be associated with temperature variables throughout the range of the species.  (Mason 93).        Family of two widely distributed genera.  (Munz, Flora So. Calif. 1013).

Text Ref:  Hickman, Ed 1312; Mason 93; Munz, Flora So. Calif. 1015.

Photo Ref: Nov-April 01-02 #2A,7A.

Identity: by R. De Ruff, confirmed by John Johnson.

First Found:  January 2002.

Computer Ref:  Plant Data 535.

Have plant specimen

Last edit 6/10/04.

                                              January Photo