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Name derivation:

Ulva lactuca (common name= sea lettuce)

Ulva: an old Celtic word for water;  lactuca= lettuce

 

Classification:

Ulva  Linnaeus  1753

Order Ulvales;  Family Ulvaceae

Synonyms include Enteromorpha Link in Nees, 1820, Blidingia Kylin 1947. and Gayralia  K.L. Vinogradova ex Scagel et al.  1989.

 

Morphology:

The foliose forms of Ulva are distromatic, while the former taxon Enteromorpha is a hollow tube composed of a single layer of cells.

 

Similar genera:

See comments dealing with Enteromopha, which was recently synonymized with Ulva based on molecular studies (A. Mathieson, personal communication).

 

Habitat:

A cosmopolitan genus that often grows in estuarine and eutrophied habitats. It is often associated with major blooms or “green tide” events throughout the world. 

 

References:

Burrows, E. M. 1991. Seaweeds of the British  Isles. Vol. 2. Chlorophyta. Natural History Museum, London, Publ. xii + 238 pp., 9 pls.

Kylin, H.  1947.  Über die Fortpflanzungsverhältnisse in der Ordnung Ulvales.  Kungl. Fysiografiska Sällskapets i Lund Förhandlingar 17: 174-182.

Link, H.F.  1820.  Epistola ad virum celeberrimum Nees ab Esenbeck...de algis aquaticis, in genera disponendis. In:  Horae physicae berolinenses. (Nees von Esenbeck, C.G.D. Eds), pp. 1-8. Bonnae [Bonn]: Sumtibus Adolphi Marcus.

Linnaeus, C.  1753.  Species plantarum, exhibentes plantas rite cognitas, ad genera relatas, cum differentiis specificis, nominibus trivialibus, synonymis selectis, locis natalibus, secundum systema sexuale digestas.  Vol. 2 pp. [i], 561-1200, [1-30, index], [i, err.]. Holmiae [Stockholm]: Impensis Laurentii Salvii.

Scagel, R.F., P.W.Gabrielson, , D.J. Garbary, , L. Golden, , M.W.Hawkes, , S.C. Lindstrom,  J.C. Oliveira, and T.B.  Widdowson  1989.  A synopsis of the benthic marine algae of British Columbia, southeast Alaska, Washington and Oregon.  Phycological Contributions, University of British Columbia 3: vi + 532.

Taylor, W. R.  1957. Marine Algae of the Northeastern Coast of North America. Revised edition. Univ. Michigan Press., Ann Arbor, ix + 509 pp. (as Spongomorpha)

 

 

 

 

 

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