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Genus (i.e. Fucus)
Species (i.e. Gardneri)
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Sugar Kelp
Saccharina latissima
Authority:
C.E. Lane, C. Mayes, Druehl & G.W. Saunders
North Pacific Distribution:
Arctic Ocean, Bering Sea and Aleutian Is., Alaska, to Santa Catalina I., California; Korea; Japan; Russia.
Phylum:
Ochrophyta
Class:
Phaeophyceae
Order:
Laminariales
Family:
Laminariaceae
Former Scientific Names:
Laminaria saccharina
Description: Thallus of this very common kelp is light to medium brown with a finely branched holdfast (haptera), a cylindrical stipe up to 50 cm (20 in) long without mucilage ducts, and a blade up to 3.5 m (10 ft) long. The blade is moderately thin and undulate and frequently has rows of blister-like swellings or puckers (bullations) near the base. Habitat: Although this kelp is considered a perennial, the blade dies back in the fall/winter and re-grows in the spring. It attaches to rock in the low intertidal to subtidal and prefers protected to semi-protected habitats. Similar taxa: Saccharina subsimplex.
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