Key to Florida's Seagrasses
(with thanks to Florida Department of Environmental Protection's Bureau of Protected Species
Management, from whom I lifted this key and graphics)
Vegetative Key
Plants with flat leaf blades ...................................... 1
Plants with round or cylindrical leaf blades ...................... Syringodium filiforme (syn:
Cymodocea filiformis)
la. Leaves paddle shaped, each associated
with 2 scales at the base ....................................2. Halophila species
lb. Leaves in a pseudowhorl, each with 2 scales at the base and two scales halfway up the petiole
or leaf stem .......................... 3. Halophila engelmannii
1c. Leaves strap-like or at least linear .......................... 4
2. Leaves rounded, generally oval in shape, secondary veins
at an angle greater than 45
degrees, leaf margins
with minute serrations; annuals from seeds ..................... Halophila
decipiens Pictures of Halophila
decipiens
2. Leaves with a pointed tip, secondary veins approximately 45 degrees or less,
elongated, entire; perennials .................................. Halophila johnsonii
4. Leaf blades greater than 3 mm in width,
generally about 1 cm wide, plants with scaly rhizomes .......... Thalassia
testudinum
4. Leaf blades generally less than 3 mm in width .................. 5
5. Leaves clustered from a distinct node on a rhizome,
leaf tip is truncated .......................................... Halodule wrightii
5. Leaves, threadlike from a branched stem,
leaf tip is pointed, can be found in active growth
throughout the year ............................................ Ruppia maritima
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