Tidepools - Intertidal Marine Plants

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Tidepools - Intertidal Marine Plants
Busch Gardens
Seaworld.org

Many marine plants, especially seaweeds, thrive in the harsh environment of the intertidal zones.

FLOWERING PLANTS
1. Seagrasses, like surf grasses (Phyllospadix spp.) and eelgrasses (Zostera marina), are the only submerged angiosperms (flowering plants) found in the ocean. Seagrasses are often abundant in intertidal areas.

MARINE ALGAE (SEAWEEDS)
1. Marine algae characteristics:
• Unlike land plants, marine algae lack true roots, stems, leaves, and flowers.
• Most possess a holdfast (a rootlike structure), a blade (leaflike structure), and many have a stipe or stemlike structure that connects the holdfast to the blade. The weight of algae is supported by water.
• Some marine algae also have pneumatocysts (gas-filled bladders) that float the blades close to the water's surface to maximize access to sunlight for photosynthesis.
• Marine algae can range in size from microscopic phytoplankton (free-floating, single-celled algae) to 45.7 m (150 ft.) tall for giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera), which grows in coastal, underwater forests.

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