Fucus spiralis

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Fucus spiralis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Clade: Diaphoretickes
Clade: SAR
Clade: Stramenopiles
Phylum: Gyrista
Subphylum: Ochrophytina
Class: Phaeophyceae
Order: Fucales
Family: Fucaceae
Genus: Fucus
Species:
F. spiralis
Binomial name
Fucus spiralis
In this photograph of a horizontal cutting of the lower part of the blade (under an optic microscope) we can distinguish very well the medulla, the cortex and the meristoderm of F. spiralis. We can also see, by the disposition of the cells, some specialization and formation of proto-tissues.

Fucus spiralis is a species of

Atlantic coasts of Europe and North America
. It has the common names of spiral wrack and flat wrack.

Description

Fucus spiralis is olive brown in colour and similar to

dichotomous and is attached, generally to rock, by a discoid holdfast. The flattened blade has a distinct mid-rib and is usually spirally twisted without a serrated edge, as in Fucus serratus, and it does not show air-vesicles, as Fucus vesiculosus.[1][2]

Life history

The reproductive bodies form rounded swollen tips on the branches, usually in pairs. In the

diploid sporophyte
plant.

Ecology

The other common species of

Pelvetia canaliculata and Ascophyllum nodosum form the zones along the shore.[3]

Distribution

F. spiralis is common on the coasts all around the British Isles,[4] western coasts of Europe, Canary Islands and North-eastern America.

Fucus spiralis var. platycarpus

Chemistry

Fucus spiralis produces phlorotannins of both the fucol and fucophlorethol types.[5]

See also

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fucus spiralis.
  1. ^ Newton, L. 1931. A Handbook of the British Seaweeds. British Museum, Natural History, London
  2. ^ Taylor,W.R. 1972. Marine Algae of the Northeastern Coast of North America. Ann Arbor, University of Michigan Press
  3. ^ Lewis, J.R. 1964. The Ecology of Rocky Shores. The English Universities Press.
  4. ISBN 0-9527115-1-6
  5. doi:10.1515/BOT.2006.042
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