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Genus (i.e. Fucus)
Species (i.e. Gardneri)
Common Name (i.e. Rock Weed)
Phylum (i.e. Ochrophyta)
All of the above
Kelp Laver
Porphyra gardneri
Authority:
(G.M. Smith et Hollenberg) M.W. Hawkes
North Pacific Distribution:
Aleutian Is., Alaska, to Baja California, Mexico; Commander Is., Russia.
Phylum:
Rhodophyta
Class:
Bangiophyceae
Order:
Bangiales
Family:
Bangiaceae
Former Scientific Names:
Porphyrella gardneri
Description: Thallus is somewhat oval, to 12 cm (5 in) long, reddish pink, one cell layer thick, with the margin slightly ruffled to somewhat ragged. Sexes are intermixed. Habitat: This species grows in large numbers along the edges of blades of Laminaria and sometimes other kelps in the low intertidal and subtidal of semi-exposed and exposted habitats. Similar taxa: Porphyra variegata, another common epiphyte on kelps, is larger and has a blade sectored into separate male and female “halves”.
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