Phyllospadix scouleri
Encyclopedia
Phyllospadix scouleri, or Scouler's surf grass, is a flowering
marine
plant in the family Zosteraceae
. It is native to the coastline of western North America from Alaska
to Baja California
.
This slender, vivid green plant has long, flat blades. It grows in large clumps or beds exposed during low tide and submerged at high tide. It is found attached to rocks in the middle to low intertidal zones to a depth of about 40–50 ft.
Sea grass was used by Native American tribes along the Southern California Coast to make cordage and other woven objects, including specimens from San Miguel Island dated between about 10,000 and 8600 years ago (see Connolly, Erlandson, and Norris 1992).
Flowering plant
The flowering plants , also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by a series of synapomorphies...
marine
Marine (ocean)
Marine is an umbrella term. As an adjective it is usually applicable to things relating to the sea or ocean, such as marine biology, marine ecology and marine geology...
plant in the family Zosteraceae
Zosteraceae
Zosteraceae is a family of marine perennial flowering plants found in temperate and subtropical coastal waters, with the highest diversity located around Korea and Japan. Most seagrasses complete their entire life cycle under water, having filamentous pollen especially adapted to dispersion in an...
. It is native to the coastline of western North America from Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
to Baja California
Baja California
Baja California officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North...
.
This slender, vivid green plant has long, flat blades. It grows in large clumps or beds exposed during low tide and submerged at high tide. It is found attached to rocks in the middle to low intertidal zones to a depth of about 40–50 ft.
Sea grass was used by Native American tribes along the Southern California Coast to make cordage and other woven objects, including specimens from San Miguel Island dated between about 10,000 and 8600 years ago (see Connolly, Erlandson, and Norris 1992).