Enter Search Terms:
Genus (i.e. Fucus)
Species (i.e. Gardneri)
Common Name (i.e. Rock Weed)
Phylum (i.e. Ochrophyta)
All of the above
False Kelp
Petalonia fascia
Authority:
(O.F. Muller) Kuntze
North Pacific Distribution:
Arctic Ocean, Bering Sea and Aleutian Is., Alaska, to Baja California, Mexico; China; Korea; Japan; Russia.
Phylum:
Ochrophyta
Class:
Phaeophyceae
Order:
Ectocarpales
Family:
Scytosiphonaceae
Former Scientific Names:
Fucus fascia, Ilea fascia, Petalonia debilis, Phyllitis fascia
Description: The thallus is a light to medium brown blade that tapers below to a tiny discoidal holdfast but lacks the complex cell differentiation of true kelps. The blade is thinner than kelps, and the margins are smooth. The thallus can grow up to 35 cm (14 in) tall. Habitat: This annual is found growing on rock in the mid intertidal to shallow subtidal from protected to semi-exposed habitats. Similar taxa:  young Laminaria, young Saccharina, Punctaria.
Click on a thumbnail to view larger version