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Genus (i.e. Fucus)
Species (i.e. Gardneri)
Common Name (i.e. Rock Weed)
Phylum (i.e. Ochrophyta)
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Three-ribbed Kelp
Cymathaere triplicata
Authority:
(Postels et Ruprecht) J. Agardh
North Pacific Distribution:
Bering Sea and Aleutian Is., Alaska, to northern Washington; Russia.
Phylum:
Ochrophyta
Class:
Phaeophyceae
Order:
Laminariales
Family:
Laminariaceae
Former Scientific Names:
Laminaria triplicata
Description: Thallus of this light to sometimes reddish brown kelp has a discoidal holdfast, a stipe up to 25 cm (10 in) long, a linear blade up to 4 m (13 ft) long and 18 cm (7 in) wide, and three riblike folds. No other kelp has this configuration. This species has a distinctive cucumber-like aroma that can often be smelled before the kelp is seen, but the species is not palatable. Habitat: This annual kelp grows on rock (often cobble) in the low intertidal to upper subtidal from semi-protected to semi-exposed habitats.
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