{{Short description|Species of aquatic plant}} {{Speciesbox |image = Ruppia_maritima_South_Chungcheong,_South_Korea_27_Jun_2006.jpg |image_caption = ''Ruppia maritima'' |status = LC |status_system = IUCN3.1 |status_ref=<ref>{{cite iucn|author1=Short, F.T.|author2=Carruthers, T.J.R.|author3=Waycott, M.|author4=Kendrick, G.A.|author5=Fourqurean, J.W.|author6=Callabine, A.|author7=Kenworthy, W.J.|author8=Dennison, W.C.|year=2010|title=''Ruppia maritima''|article-number=e.T164508A5897605|doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-3.RLTS.T164508A5897605.en|access-date=5 June 2023}}</ref> |genus = Ruppia |species = maritima |authority = [[Carl Linnaeus|L.]] |synonyms = ''Ruppia brachypus'' J.Gay }}
'''''Ruppia maritima''''' is an [[aquatic plant]] species commonly known as '''beaked tasselweed''',''' beaked ditchgrass''',{{citation needed|date=February 2023}} '''ditch grass''', '''tassel pondweed''' and '''widgeon grass'''.<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://www.forest.go.kr/kna/special/download/English_Names_for_Korean_Native_Plants.pdf|title=English Names for Korean Native Plants|publisher=[[Korea National Arboretum]]|year=2015|isbn=978-89-97450-98-5|location=Pocheon|page=614|access-date=24 December 2016|via=[[Korea Forest Service]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170525105020/http://www.forest.go.kr/kna/special/download/English_Names_for_Korean_Native_Plants.pdf|archive-date=25 May 2017}}</ref> Despite its [[scientific name]], it is not a [[Marine biology|marine plant]]; is perhaps best described as a [[halophyte|salt-tolerant]] [[freshwater]] species.<ref name=class>Kantrud, H. A. (1991). [https://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/plants/ruppia/class.htm Classification and Distribution - Wigeongrass (''Ruppia maritima'' L.): A literature review.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090914160319/http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/plants/ruppia/class.htm |date=2009-09-14 }} U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.</ref> The generic name ''Ruppia'' was dedicated by Linnaeus to the German botanist [[Heinrich Bernhard Ruppius]] (1689–1719) and the specific name (maritima) translates to "of the sea".
==Distribution== It can be found throughout the world, most often in coastal areas, where it grows in [[brackish water]] bodies, such as [[marsh]]es. It is a dominant plant in a great many shoreline regions. It does not grow well in [[turbidity|turbid]] water or low-oxygen substrates.<ref name=habitat>Kantrud, H. A. (1991). [https://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/plants/ruppia/habitat.htm Habitat - Wigeongrass (''Ruppia maritima'' L.): A literature review.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090914160000/http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/plants/ruppia/habitat.htm |date=2009-09-14 }} U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.</ref>
==Description== ''Ruppia maritima'' is a thread-thin, grasslike annual or perennial<ref name=class/> herb which grows from a [[rhizome]] anchored shallowly in the wet substrate. It produces a long, narrow, straight or loosely coiled [[inflorescence]] tipped with two tiny flowers. The plant often self-pollinates, but the flowers also release [[pollen]] that reaches other plants as it floats away on bubbles.<ref name=repro>Kantrud, H. A. (1991). [https://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/plants/ruppia/develop.htm Development and Reproduction - Wigeongrass (''Ruppia maritima'' L.): A literature review.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090606163902/http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/plants/ruppia/develop.htm |date=2009-06-06 }} U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.</ref>
The fruits are [[drupe]]lets. They are [[biological dispersal|dispersed]] in the water and inside the digestive system of fish and waterbirds that eat them.<ref name=repro/> The plant also [[vegetative reproduction|reproduces vegetatively]] by sprouting from its rhizome to form colonies.<ref name=repro/>
==Taxonomy and nomenclature== On the basis of molecular phylogenetic analyses, a species complex, named ''R''. ''maritima'' complex, had been discerned,<ref>Ito Y., T. Ohi-Toma, J. Murata & Nr. Tanaka (2010) [https://web.archive.org/web/20150628081601/http://www.amjbot.org/content/97/7/1156.short Hybridization and polyploidy of an aquatic plant, ''Ruppia'' (Ruppiaceae), inferred from plastid and nuclear DNA phylogenies] ''American Journal of Botany'' '''97:''' 1156-1167</ref> which was then extended to include eight lineages,<ref>Ito Y., T. Ohi-Toma, J. Murata & Nr. Tanaka (2013) [https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10265-013-0570-6 Comprehensive phylogenetic analyses of the ''Ruppia'' ''maritima'' complex focusing on taxa from the Mediterranean] ''Journal of Plant Research'' '''126:''' 753-762</ref> or nine lineages.<ref>Ito, Y., T. Ohi-Toma, Nr. Tanaka, J. Murata, A.M. Muasya (2015) [http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.1600/036364415X689988 Phylogeny of Ruppia (Ruppiaceae) revisited: Molecular and morphological evidence for a new species from Western Cape, South Africa] '' Systematic Botany'' '''40:''' : 942-949</ref>
A lectotype for ''[[Ruppia cirrhosa|R. cirrhosa]]'' is designated and the name is shown to be a homotypic synonym of ''R. maritima''.<ref name="Ito et al. 2017">Ito, Y., T. Ohi-Toma, C. Nepi, A. Santangelo, A. Stinca, N. Tanaka, & J. Murata (2017) [https://doi.org/10.12705/661.11 Towards a better understanding of the ''Ruppia maritima'' complex (Ruppiaceae): Notes on the correct application and typification of the names ''R. cirrhosa'' and ''R. spiralis''] ''[[Taxon (journal)|Taxon]]'' '''66:''' 167-171</ref>
==Wetlands and wildlife== This plant and the epiphytic algae attached to the floating leaves can be an important part of the diet for selected herbivorous [[waterfowl]] species, but not important for predatory waterfowl that eat fish or invertebrate animals. In many areas, [[Restoration ecology|wetlands restoration]] begins with the recovery and protection of this plant.<ref>Kantrud, H. A. (1991). [https://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/plants/ruppia/intro.htm Introduction - Wigeongrass (''Ruppia maritima'' L.): A literature review.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090914162301/http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/plants/ruppia/intro.htm |date=2009-09-14 }} U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.</ref> By being planted in tandem with ''[[Zostera marina]]'' in sections unsuitable for ''Zostera'', ''R. maritima'' can synergistically assist in wetland restoration and combating [[climate change]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Hensel |first1=Enie |last2=Patrick |first2=Christopher J. |last3=Wilson |first3=Stephanie J. |last4=Song |first4=Bongkeun |last5=Reay |first5=William G. |last6=Orth |first6=Robert J. |date=2024-04-29 |title=Incorporating generalist seagrasses enhances habitat restoration in a changing environment |journal=Journal of Applied Ecology |volume=61 |issue=6 |pages=1469–1480 |language=en |doi=10.1111/1365-2664.14643 |bibcode=2024JApEc..61.1469H |issn=0021-8901|doi-access=free }}</ref>
==See also== *[[Wetland indicator status]] *[[Wetland conservation]] *[[Wetland classification]] *[[Constructed wetland]]
==References== {{Reflist|2}}
==External links== {{Commons|Ruppia maritima}} *[http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_JM_treatment.pl?9353,9377,9379 Jepson Manual Treatment - ''Ruppia maritima''] *[http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?query_src=photos_index&where-taxon=Ruppia+maritima ''Ruppia maritima'' - Photo gallery]
{{Taxonbar|from=Q164107}} {{Authority control}}
[[Category:Ruppia|maritima]] [[Category:Brackish water plants]] [[Category:Freshwater plants]] [[Category:Salt marsh plants]] [[Category:Flora of Northern America]] [[Category:Flora of Southern America]] [[Category:Flora of Africa]] [[Category:Flora of temperate Asia]] [[Category:Flora of tropical Asia]] [[Category:Flora of Europe]] [[Category:Bird food plants]] [[Category:Flora of Australia]] [[Category:Plants described in 1753]] [[Category:Botanical taxa named by Carl Linnaeus]]