SPECIES DESCRIPTION
RUPPIA MARITIMA
Including- Ruppia cirrhosa
Family and Genus:- See- RUPPIACEAE
Common Name:- None
Homotypic Synonyms:- Ruppia rostellata
Meaning:- Ruppia (L)
Maritima (L) Growing by the sea.
General description:- Rhizomatous perennial forming loose, submerged mats.
Stems:-
1) Very slender, moderately branched.
Leaves:-
1) Up to 10 cm long and c. 0.5 mm wide, filiform, minutely serrulate, acute, with
membranous sheathing, slightly inflated at the base, rather pale green or
brownish.
Flowers:-
1) Inconspicuous, apparently in small, pedunculate umbels (actually in pairs with
the carpels becoming stipitate in fruit).
2) Peduncles, up to 6 cm, shortly accrescent after anthesis, often recurved or
somewhat flexuous in fruit but not spirally coiled.
3) Perianth, lacking.
4) Stamens, 2.
6) Anthers, 0·6-0·7 mm, elliptical.
Fruit:-
1) Fruitlets, 2-3 mm (excluding the stipe), long- or short-stipitate, very obliquely
ovoid, often curved.
Key features:-
1) Peduncles, usually less than 6 cm, shortly accrescent after anthesis, not
spirally coiled in fruit.
2) Anthers, 0·6-0·7 mm, elliptical.
3) Leaves, usually acute.
Habitat:- Lagoons, brackish pools and ditches with a soft, muddy bottom. 0-5 m.
Distribution:- Scattered throughout Greece. - Europe, N Africa and SW Asia..
Rare on Crete scattered around a few coastal areas.
.
Flowering time:- Apr- June.
Photos by:- Kind permission of Saxifraga - Free Nature Images.
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RUPPIA CIRRHOSA Back to Top
Homotypic Synonyms:- Ruppia maritima ssp. spiralis, Ruppia spiralis
Meaning:- Cirrhosa (Gr) Yellowish.
Resembling Ruppia martima, but differering in the following characters:-
1) Plant, more robust
2) Leaves, c. 1mm, wide, obtuse, usually darker green.
3) Fruiting peduncle, long (usually 6-12 cm), spirally coiled.
Habitat:- Lagoons, brackish pools and ditches with a soft, muddy bottom. 0-5 m.
Distribution:- Scattered throughout Greece. - Europe, N Africa and SW Asia. Very
rare on Crete currently known from only one location in the S E
.
Flowering time:- Apr- June.
