Red sea-cabbage • Turnerella mertensiana
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Older, tattered red sea-cabbage plants. Note the large round gland cells visible in the image at left. Photos by Jenn Burt.
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Identification
Red sea-cabbage is a perennial red seaweed. Its dark red blades that start off almost round and usually whole, with a diameter of 30 cm or more; with time the thick blades become tattered and split, and take on an irregular shape. This species lacks a stipe: each blade is directly connected to a small disc-shaped holdfast. Red sea-cabbage also has an encrusting phase, which also has gland cells.
Habitat & Range
This species grows on rock in the low intertidal and subtidal. It inhabits semi-protected and semi-exposed shorelines along both sides of the North Pacific: from the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands south to northern Washington, and along the coasts of Russia and Japan.
Similar Species
Red opuntia (Opuntiella californica) and other species of its genus may appear similar. Rather than a circular blade that has been split and tattered, red opuntia has one central blade with many smaller blades growing from its margin. Another major difference is its distinct stipe connecting the blade to the disc-shaped holdfast.
Red sea-cabbage is a perennial red seaweed. Its dark red blades that start off almost round and usually whole, with a diameter of 30 cm or more; with time the thick blades become tattered and split, and take on an irregular shape. This species lacks a stipe: each blade is directly connected to a small disc-shaped holdfast. Red sea-cabbage also has an encrusting phase, which also has gland cells.
Habitat & Range
This species grows on rock in the low intertidal and subtidal. It inhabits semi-protected and semi-exposed shorelines along both sides of the North Pacific: from the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands south to northern Washington, and along the coasts of Russia and Japan.
Similar Species
Red opuntia (Opuntiella californica) and other species of its genus may appear similar. Rather than a circular blade that has been split and tattered, red opuntia has one central blade with many smaller blades growing from its margin. Another major difference is its distinct stipe connecting the blade to the disc-shaped holdfast.
References
Lindberg, M. and Lindstrom, S. (2010). Turnerella mertensiana Red Sea-cabbage. Seaweeds of Alaska. Accessed 02/06/2016.
O'Clair, R. and Lindstrom, S. Mazzaella splendens (Setchell et N.L. Gardner) Fredericq. In Klinkenberg, Brian. (Ed.). E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Plants of British Columbia. Lab for Advanced Spatial Analysis, Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, Vancouver. Accessed02/06/2016.
Authors and editors of page
Kelly Fretwell (2016).
Lindberg, M. and Lindstrom, S. (2010). Turnerella mertensiana Red Sea-cabbage. Seaweeds of Alaska. Accessed 02/06/2016.
O'Clair, R. and Lindstrom, S. Mazzaella splendens (Setchell et N.L. Gardner) Fredericq. In Klinkenberg, Brian. (Ed.). E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Plants of British Columbia. Lab for Advanced Spatial Analysis, Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, Vancouver. Accessed02/06/2016.
Authors and editors of page
Kelly Fretwell (2016).
