Ruppia maritima

Ruppia maritima
Ruppia maritima
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Monocots
Order: Alismatales
Family: Ruppiaceae
Genus: Ruppia
Species: R. maritima
Binomial name
Ruppia maritima
L.

Ruppia maritima is a species of aquatic plant known by the common names beaked tasselweed, widgeongrass, ditch-grass and tassel pondweed. Despite its Latin name, it is not a marine plant; is perhaps best described as a salt-tolerant freshwater species.[1] The generic name Ruppia was dedicated by Linnaeus to the German botanist Heinrich Bernhard Ruppius (1689-1719) and the specific name (maritima) translates to "of the sea".

Distribution

It can be found throughout the world, most often in coastal areas, where it grows in brackish water bodies, such as marshes. It is a dominant plant in a great many shoreline regions. It does not grow well in turbid water or low-oxygen substrates.[2]

Description

Ruppia maritima is a thread-thin, grasslike annual or perennial[1] herb which grows from a rhizome anchored shallowly in the wet substrate. It produces a long, narrow, straight or loosely coiled inflorescence tipped with two tiny flowers. The plant often self-pollinates, but the flowers also release pollen that reaches other plants as it floats away on bubbles.[3]

The fruits are drupelets. They are dispersed in the water and inside the guts of fish and waterbirds that eat them.[3] The plant also reproduces vegetatively by sprouting from its rhizome to form colonies.[3]

Taxonomy

On the basis of molecular phylogenetic analyses, a species complex, named R. maritima complex, had been discerned,[4] which was then extended to include eight lineages.[5]

Wetlands and wildlife

This plant is an important part of the diet of many species of waterfowl. In many areas, wetlands restoration begins with the recovery and protection of this plant.[6]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Kantrud, H. A. (1991). Classification and Distribution - Wigeongrass (Ruppia maritima L.): A literature review. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
  2. ↑ Kantrud, H. A. (1991). Habitat - Wigeongrass (Ruppia maritima L.): A literature review. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
  3. 1 2 3 Kantrud, H. A. (1991). Development and Reproduction - Wigeongrass (Ruppia maritima L.): A literature review. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
  4. ↑ Ito Y., T. Ohi-Toma, J. Murata & Nr. Tanaka (2010) Hybridization and polyploidy of an aquatic plant, Ruppia (Ruppiaceae), inferred from plastid and nuclear DNA phylogenies American Journal of Botany 97: 1156-1167
  5. ↑ Ito Y., T. Ohi-Toma, J. Murata & Nr. Tanaka (2013) Comprehensive phylogenetic analyses of the Ruppia maritima complex focusing on taxa from the Mediterranean Journal of Plant Research 126: xxxx-xxxx
  6. ↑ Kantrud, H. A. (1991). Introduction - Wigeongrass (Ruppia maritima L.): A literature review. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

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