Kingdom Protista
Phylum Chlorophyta
Order Chlorophyceae
Family Ulvaceae
Class Ulvales
Genus Ulva
Species lactuca
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- Ulva sp. drying at low tide
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- Ulva lactuca with Porphyra with California mussels
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- U. lactuca with various rhodophytes
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- Ulva lactuca with Porphyra with California mussels
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- U. lactuca with Bangia fuscopurpurea
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- Ulva sp. in a tide pool
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- Desiccating and wet Ulva sp. on the Race Rocks slipway
Description: At Race Rocks, Ulva lactuca occurs in some areas at the .2 m level in the intertiidal zone. This plant is light to dark green, erect, lanceolate to broadly ovate, often ruffled along the margins, 18-60 cm. high; at times irregularly split into broad lobes, tapering abruptly near the base to a short stipitate region and a small discoid holdfast of rhizoidal cells.
Habitat: On rocks and epiphytic on other algae in the upper intertidal zone; often floating on mud flats in the lower intertidal zone in quiet bays and lagoons.
Pacific Coast Distribution: Bering Sea to Chile.
Adapted from:Robert Scagel, 1978
Photos by Ryan Murphy