Zosteraceae
Encyclopedia
Zosteraceae is a family of marine
perennial
flowering plant
s 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 aquatic environment and ribbon-like leaves that lack stomata. Seagrasses are herbaceous
and have prominent creeping rhizome
s. A distinctive characteristic of the family is the presence of characteristic retinacules, which are present in all species except members of Zostera subgenus Zostera.
Zosteraceae has long been accepted by taxonomists as monophyletic. The APG II system
of 2003 recognizes this family and places it in the monocot order Alismatales
. The family contains approximately fourteen species divided between two genera, Phyllospadix
and Zostera
. The latter contains three subgenera: Heterozostera (formerly considered a separate genus ), Zostera and Zosterella. Zosteraceae is closely related to Potamogetonaceae
, a family of freshwater aquatics.
Zosteraceae is a conserved name
.
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...
perennial
Perennial plant
A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. The term is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter lived annuals and biennials. The term is sometimes misused by commercial gardeners or horticulturalists to describe only herbaceous perennials...
flowering plant
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...
s found in temperate
Temperate
In geography, temperate or tepid latitudes of the globe lie between the tropics and the polar circles. The changes in these regions between summer and winter are generally relatively moderate, rather than extreme hot or cold...
and subtropical coastal waters, with the highest diversity located around Korea and Japan. Most seagrasses complete their entire life cycle
Biological life cycle
A life cycle is a period involving all different generations of a species succeeding each other through means of reproduction, whether through asexual reproduction or sexual reproduction...
under water, having filamentous pollen
Pollen
Pollen is a fine to coarse powder containing the microgametophytes of seed plants, which produce the male gametes . Pollen grains have a hard coat that protects the sperm cells during the process of their movement from the stamens to the pistil of flowering plants or from the male cone to the...
especially adapted to dispersion in an aquatic environment and ribbon-like leaves that lack stomata. Seagrasses are herbaceous
Herbaceous plant
A herbaceous plant is a plant that has leaves and stems that die down at the end of the growing season to the soil level. They have no persistent woody stem above ground...
and have prominent creeping rhizome
Rhizome
In botany and dendrology, a rhizome is a characteristically horizontal stem of a plant that is usually found underground, often sending out roots and shoots from its nodes...
s. A distinctive characteristic of the family is the presence of characteristic retinacules, which are present in all species except members of Zostera subgenus Zostera.
Zosteraceae has long been accepted by taxonomists as monophyletic. The APG II system
APG II system
The APG II system of plant classification is the second, now obsolete, version of a modern, mostly molecular-based, system of plant taxonomy that was published in April 2003 by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group. It was a revision of the first APG system, published in 1998, and was superseded in 2009...
of 2003 recognizes this family and places it in the monocot order Alismatales
Alismatales
Alismatales is an order of flowering plants including about 2500 species. Pleants assigned to this order are mostly tropical or aquatic.-Description:...
. The family contains approximately fourteen species divided between two genera, Phyllospadix
Phyllospadix
Phyllospadix is a genus of seagrass or surfgrass, a flowering plant in the family Zosteraceae, comprising 5 species. Phyllospadix grows in marine waters along the coasts of the temperate North Pacific.- Species :...
and Zostera
Zostera
Zostera is a small genus of widely distributed seagrass, commonly called marine eelgrass or simply eelgrass . The genus Zostera contains sixteen species.-Ecology:Zostera is found on sandy substrates or in estuaries submerged or partially floating...
. The latter contains three subgenera: Heterozostera (formerly considered a separate genus ), Zostera and Zosterella. Zosteraceae is closely related to Potamogetonaceae
Potamogetonaceae
The Potamogetonaceae, commonly referred to as the pondweed family, is an aquatic family of monocotyledonous flowering plants. There are roughly 120 species spread across six genera in the Potamagetonaceae...
, a family of freshwater aquatics.
Zosteraceae is a conserved name
Conserved name
A conserved name or nomen conservandum is a scientific name that has specific nomenclatural protection. Nomen conservandum is a Latin term, meaning a "name which should be conserved"...
.
External links
- Zosteraceae in L. Watson and M.J. Dallwitz (1992 onwards).
- The families of flowering plants: descriptions, illustrations, identification, information retrieval. Version: 27 April 2006.
- Zosteraceae in the Flora of North America
- NCBI Taxonomy Browser
- links at CSDL, Texas