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Widgeongrass (Ruppia maritima)

Description

Ruppia maritima is a species of aquatic plant known by the common names beaked tasselweed,widgeon grass,ditch-grass and tassel pondweed.Despite its scientific name,it is not a marine plant;is perhaps best described as a salt-tolerant freshwater species.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".Ruppia maritima is a thread-thin,grasslike annual or perennial 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.The fruits are drupelets.They are dispersed in the water and inside the guts of fish and waterbirds that eat them.The plant also reproduces vegetatively by sprouting from its rhizome to form colonies.

Taxonomic tree

  • Domain: Eukarya

    • Kingdom: Plantae

      • Phylum: Magnoliophyta

        • Class: Liliopsida

          • Order: Alismatales

            • Family: Ruppiaceae

              • Genus: Ruppia