Plantae Notes

1. Plantae Notes

2. Sea Plants • Eukaryotic • Multicellular

3. Marine Angiosperms

4. Phylum Anthophyta • A few live in the water, but most live on the “skirts” • Few are successful in the ocean, only the sea grasses are truly marine • True leaves, stems, roots, and vascular tissue • Vascular tissue- xylem and phloem • Allow plants to grow tall by transporting food and water

5. Marine (or Sea) Grasses- Completely underwater • Reproduce with flowers and seeds • Release a string of pollen that floats • Form broad gray or green submerged meadows

6. Zostera • Common name- Eelgrass • Most common • Temperate North Atlantic and Pacific • Found in shallow bays and estuaries • Can grow in water up to 4-5 meters deep • Flat ribbon like leaves • Loves O2 poor sediments • Provides habitats for marine animals • Spawning ground for many organisms • Favorite food of some ducks and geese • Has true roots and leaves attached to rhizome • Rhizome= an underground horizontal stem • Can reproduce by seeds or by sending up new leaves from the rhizome

7. Phyllospadix • Common name: Surfgrass • Found on rocky coasts with lots of wave action • May be exposed at low tide • Found on Pacific coast of North America • Seasonal flowers and fuzzy fruit • Very productive due to nitrifying bacteria in roots

8. Thalassia • Common name: Turtle grass • Found in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean • Looks like Eelgrass, but the leaves are broader • Grows in muddy and sandy sediment • Calm water • 30 inches or less of water • Turtles eat it

9. Syringodium • Common name: Manatee grass • Manatee’s eat it

10. Marine Plants- partly in the water

11. Spartina • Halophyte • Land plants that are tolerate to salt • Common name: Cord Grass • Do not like being submerged • Found in salt marshes and other soft bottom costal areas in temperate regions • Leaves always exposed to air

12. Spartina continued… • Salt glands in leaves • Spreads by rhizomes • Important soil stabilizer • High energy production • Important refugee for many organisms

13. Salicomia • Common name: Pickle weed • Halophyte • Found in salt marshes and other soft bottom coastal areas in temperate regions • Leaves always exposed to air • Some use it in salads

14. Mangroves • Some excrete salt because they absorb it, while others do not absorb salt at all • Many roots arching and propping to hold them in place • Equipped with breathing pores and air passages for roots in O2 deficient mud • Root system traps sediment • Helps enlarge deltas and coastal wetlands • Root system is protective habitat to many organisms • Can live 20-30 years • Can grow up to 33 feet • 3 types we will discuss:

15. Red Mangroves • Rhizophora • Tropics and subtropics • Laves are thick to reduce water loss • Seeds may develop on the parent plant • Will reach about 1 inch before falling off • Roots drop from top

16. Black Mangroves • Avicennia • Live mingled among and behind red (higher elevation) • Roots do not drop from top

17. White Mangroves • Laguncularia • Live behind black (highest elevation) • Do not have specialized roots with O2 tubes