Ruppia maritima

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Ruppia maritima
Ruppia maritima South Chungcheong, South Korea 27 Jun 2006.jpg
Ruppia maritima
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Alismatales
Family: Ruppiaceae
Genus: Ruppia
Species:
R. maritima
Binomial name
Ruppia maritima
L.
Synonyms

Ruppia brachypus J.Gay

Ruppia maritima is an aquatic plant species commonly known as beaked tasselweed, beaked ditchgrass,[ citation needed ]ditch grass, tassel pondweed and widgeon grass. [2] Despite its scientific name, it is not a marine plant; is perhaps best described as a salt-tolerant freshwater species. [3] 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".

Contents

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. [4]

Description

Ruppiamaritima.jpg

Ruppia maritima is a thread-thin, grasslike annual or perennial [3] 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. [5]

The fruits are drupelets. They are dispersed in the water and inside the digestive system of fish and waterbirds that eat them. [5] The plant also reproduces vegetatively by sprouting from its rhizome to form colonies. [5]

Taxonomy and nomenclature

On the basis of molecular phylogenetic analyses, a species complex, named R. maritima complex, had been discerned, [6] which was then extended to include eight lineages, [7] or nine lineages. [8]

A lectotype for R. cirrhosa is designated and the name is shown to be a homotypic synonym of R. maritima. [9]

Wetlands and wildlife

This plant and the epiphytic algae attached to the floating leaves can be an important part of the diet for selected herbivorous waterfowl species, but not important for predatory waterfowl that eat fish or invertebrate animals. In many areas, wetlands restoration begins with the recovery and protection of this plant. [10] By being planted in tandem with Zostera marina in sections unsuitable for Zostera, R. maritima can synergistically assist in wetland restoration and combating climate change. [11]

See also

Related Research Articles

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<i>Ruppia</i> Genus of aquatic plants

Ruppia, also known as the widgeonweeds, ditch grasses or widgeon grass, is the only extant genus in the family Ruppiaceae, with eight known species. These are aquatic plants widespread over much of the world. The genus name honours Heinrich Bernhard Rupp, a German botanist (1688-1719). They are widespread outside of frigid zones and the tropics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nobuyuki Tanaka</span>

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Lemna trisulca L. is a species of aquatic plants in the arum family Araceae. It has a subcosmopolitan distribution. Unlike other duckweeds, it has submerged rather than floating fronds, except when flowering or fruiting. Also unlike other duckweeds, a large number of fronds remain attached to each other at a time.

<i>Ruppia cirrhosa</i> Species of aquatic plant

Ruppia cirrhosa is a species of aquatic plant known by the common names spiral ditchgrass and spiral tasselweed. It is native to the Americas and Europe, where it grows in freshwater bodies, such as lakes. It is a thread-thin, grasslike perennial herb which grows from a rhizome anchored in the wet substrate. It produces a long, narrow inflorescence tipped with two tiny flowers. As the fruit develops the peduncle of the inflorescence curls into a neat spiral.

<i>Zostera marina</i> Species of aquatic plant

Zostera marina is a flowering vascular plant species as one of many kinds of seagrass, with this species known primarily by the English name of eelgrass with seawrack much less used, and refers to the plant after breaking loose from the submerged wetland soil, and drifting free with ocean current and waves to a coast seashore. It is a saline soft-sediment submerged plant native to marine environments on the coastlines of northern latitudes from subtropical to subpolar regions of North America and Eurasia.

Potamogeton maackianus is an aquatic plant species in the genus Potamogeton. It is found in slow moving fresh water.

<i>Potamogeton octandrus</i> Species of aquatic plant

Potamogeton octandrus is an aquatic plant species in the genus Potamogeton. It is found in slow-moving fresh water. The specific epithet means 'eight-stamened'.

Ruppia megacarpa is a submerged herb species in the genus Ruppia found in shallow brackish waters. It is a common on Australasian coasts, including Australia (NSW; SA; Vic; WA and New Zealand. Isolated populations have been currently found in East Asia, including Japan, Korea, and Far East Russia, hence, the species distribution exhibit latitudinally disjunct distribution between East Asia and Australasia.

<i>Ruppia tuberosa</i> Species of herb

Ruppia tuberosa is a submerged herb in the genus Ruppia found in shallow hypersaline waters in Australia.

<i>Nechamandra</i> Genus of flowering plants

Nechamandra is a monotypic genus of an aquatic plant family Hydrocharitaceae. The sole species is Nechamandra alternifolia. It is found in slow moving fresh water.

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<i>Najas tenuis</i> Species of aquatic plant

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Ruppia bicarpa is an aquatic plant species in the genus Ruppia of Ruppiaceae. It is found in shallow waters.

Ruppia spiralis is an aquatic plant species in the genus Ruppia of the family Ruppiaceae. This name was synonymized under R. cirrhosa, but it has been resurrected for the species previously referred to as R. cirrhosa.

References

  1. Short, F.T.; Carruthers, T.J.R.; Waycott, M.; Kendrick, G.A.; Fourqurean, J.W.; Callabine, A.; Kenworthy, W.J.; Dennison, W.C. (2010). "Ruppia maritima". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2010: e.T164508A5897605. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-3.RLTS.T164508A5897605.en . Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  2. English Names for Korean Native Plants (PDF). Pocheon: Korea National Arboretum. 2015. p. 614. ISBN   978-89-97450-98-5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 May 2017. Retrieved 24 December 2016 via Korea Forest Service.
  3. 1 2 Kantrud, H. A. (1991). Classification and Distribution - Wigeongrass (Ruppia maritima L.): A literature review. Archived 2009-09-14 at the Wayback Machine U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
  4. Kantrud, H. A. (1991). Habitat - Wigeongrass (Ruppia maritima L.): A literature review. Archived 2009-09-14 at the Wayback Machine U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
  5. 1 2 3 Kantrud, H. A. (1991). Development and Reproduction - Wigeongrass (Ruppia maritima L.): A literature review. Archived 2009-06-06 at the Wayback Machine U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
  6. 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 Botany97: 1156-1167
  7. Ito Y., T. Ohi-Toma, J. Murata & Nr. Tanaka (2013) Comprehensive phylogenetic analyses of the Ruppiamaritima complex focusing on taxa from the Mediterranean Journal of Plant Research126: 753-762
  8. Ito, Y., T. Ohi-Toma, Nr. Tanaka, J. Murata, A.M. Muasya (2015) Phylogeny of Ruppia (Ruppiaceae) revisited: Molecular and morphological evidence for a new species from Western Cape, South Africa Systematic Botany40: : 942-949
  9. Ito, Y., T. Ohi-Toma, C. Nepi, A. Santangelo, A. Stinca, N. Tanaka, & J. Murata (2017) Towards a better understanding of the Ruppia maritima complex (Ruppiaceae): Notes on the correct application and typification of the names R. cirrhosa and R. spiralis Taxon 66: 167-171
  10. Kantrud, H. A. (1991). Introduction - Wigeongrass (Ruppia maritima L.): A literature review. Archived 2009-09-14 at the Wayback Machine U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
  11. Hensel, Enie; Patrick, Christopher J.; Wilson, Stephanie J.; Song, Bongkeun; Reay, William G.; Orth, Robert J. (2024-04-29). "Incorporating generalist seagrasses enhances habitat restoration in a changing environment". Journal of Applied Ecology. doi: 10.1111/1365-2664.14643 . ISSN   0021-8901.