Eel Grass (Zostera)
Description
Zostera is a small genus of widely distributed seagrasses, commonly called marine eelgrass or simply eelgrass. The genus Zostera contains 15 species. The genus as a whole is widespread throughout seashores of much of the Northern Hemisphere as well as Australia, New Zealand, Southeast Asia and southern Africa. The discovery of Z. chilensis in 2005 adds an isolated population on the Pacific coast of South America to the distribution. One species (Z. noltii) occurs along the land-locked Caspian Sea. Eelgrass has been used for food by the Seri tribe of Native Americans on the coast of Sonora, Mexico. The rhizomes and leaf-bases of eelgrass were eaten fresh or dried into cakes for winter food. It was also used for smoking deer meat. The Seri language has many words related to eelgrass and eelgrass-harvesting. The month of April is called xnoois ihaat iizax, literally "the month when the eelgrass seed is mature". Zostera has also been used as packing material and as stuffing for mattresses and cushions. On the Danish island of Læsø it has been used for thatching roofs. Roofs of eelgrass are said to be heavy, but also much longer-lasting and easier to thatch and maintain than roofs done with more conventional thatching material. Zostera can also be utilized to produce biomass energy using the Jean Pain method
Taxonomic tree
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Domain: Eukarya
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Kingdom: Plantae
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Phylum:
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Class:
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Order: Alismatales
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Family: Zosteraceae
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Genus: Zostera
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