Thalassia
-
Authority
Acevedo-Rodríguez, Pedro & collaborators. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78: 1-581.
-
Family
Hydrocharitaceae
-
Scientific Name
-
Description
Genus Description - Submersed marine perennials; rhizomes elongate, scaly, with short stems produced from the nodes. Leaves tufted; blades linear, ribbonlike, falcate, eligulate, green; sheaths pale brown, the lower persistent, becoming fibrillose with age. Inflorescence of l(-2) staminate flowers and 1 pistillate flower on peduncles arising singly from the lower leaves. Flowers unisexual with 3 tepals, enclosed in a tubular, 2-cleft spathe; staminate flowers on short pedicels with 3-12 stamens, the filaments short; pistillate flowers subsessile; ovary inferior, 6-8-carpellate, muricate; styles 6-8, bifurcate nearly to base, the stigmas pilose, longer than the styles. Fruit a globose, echinate, fleshy capsule, irregularly stellately dehiscing, the apex beaked; seeds few.
Distribution and Ecology - A genus of 2 species distributed along coasts; 1 occurs primarily in the Caribbean region, the other in eastern Africa, southern Asia, Indonesia, and Australia.