Ruppie maritime

Ruppia maritima var. brevirostris Agardh; R. maritima var. exigua Fernald & Wiegand; R. maritima var intermedia (Thedenius) Ascherson & Graebner; R. maritima var. longipes Hagström; R. maritima var. obliqua (Schur) Ascherson & Graebner; R. maritima var. rostrata Agardh; R. maritima var. subcapitata Fernald & Wiegand

Stems to 50 cm × 0.1--0.7 mm. Leaves 6--10.5 cm; blade 0.3--0.5 mm, apex ± obtuse. Inflorescences: peduncles with 0--3[--4] coils, 0.5--16.5 × 0.5 mm. Flowers: pistils 4--8. Fruits 1.8--2 × 0.7--1.5 mm; gynophore 1.2--1.9 cm; beak terminal, slightly recurved, 0.6--1 mm. 2n = 16.

Flowering spring--fall. Shallow waters of brackish streams, ditches, and lakes along ocean shore; 0--200 m; St. Pierre and Miquelon; B.C., N.B., Nfld. and Labr. (Nfld.), N.S., Ont., P.E.I., Que., Sask.; Ala., Alaska, Calif., Conn., Del., Fla., Ga., La., Maine, Md., Mass., Miss., N.H., N.J., N.Y., N.C., Oreg., R.I., S.C., Tex., Va., Wash.; coastal Mexico; West Indies; Bermuda; Central America; South America; Eurasia; Africa; Australia.

No specimens have been seen from Washington, D. C., but the species is to be expected there.

SELECTED REFERENCES

Graves, A. H. 1908. The morphology of Ruppia mar iitima. Trans. Connecticut Acad. Arts 14: 59--170. Richardson, F. D. 1980. Ecology of Ruppia maritima L. in New Hampshire (U.S.A.) tidal marshes. Rhodora 82: 403--439.