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Flattened Acid Kelp
Desmarestia ligulata
Authority:
(Stackhouse) J.V.Lamouroux
North Pacific Distribution:
Unalaska Island, Alaska to Baja California, Mexico; Korea; Japan; Russia
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Former Scientific Names:
Herbacea ligulata
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Description:
Thallus is golden to olive brown, ligulate, reaching 80 cm (31 in) tall, with opposite, flattened branches to several orders and a main axis and branches with faint midrib and lateral veins. Habitat: This annual occurs in the low intertidal and subtidal of semi-protected to semi-exposed habitats. This species has a high acid content and causes specimens to quickly break down.
Comments:
The identity of all these populations with true D. ligulata remains to be verified; Peters et al. (1997, J. Phycol. 33:294) show that some of these populations are molecularly divergent from European populations.
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