Tropicos | Name - !Ruppia L.

!Ruppia L.

Flora Data (Last Modified On 5/24/2013)

Genus	Ruppia L.
PlaceOfPublication	Sp. P1. 127. 1753.
Description	Plants herbaceous, submersed in brackish or saline waters, annual or peren- nial, propagating from seeds, rhizomes, or winter buds. Stems variable in length according to water depth, branched or unbranched, terete, rooting at the nodes. Leaves all submersed, sub-opposite or alternate, linear or setaceous, uninervate, with a stipular sheath at the base, apex acute to truncate, margins entire through- out or minutely serrulate at the apex; stipule adnate to leaf base for its entire
Habit	herb
Description	length. Winter buds present or absent, with one internode, the leaves undiffer- entiated. Inflorescence a 1- to few-flowered capitate spike enclosed in a spathe- like sheath; peduncle elongating at anthesis, elevating the inflorescence to or near the water's surface. Flowers bisporangiate; perianth absent; stamens 2, sessile; carpels 2-16, distinct, stipitate, placentation parietal, ovule one. Fruits drupa- ceous, dorsally rounded, each on a short stipe which usually elongates after anthesis.
Distribution	Ruppia is a cosmopolitan genus of perhaps six species
Note	one species, Ruppia maritima, is known to occur in Panama. Ruppia, commonly known as "Widgeon- grass," is an important food and cover source for many waterfowl and inverte- brates.
Common	Widgeon- grass