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	©Copyright 1993 by the Regents of the University of California Print edition is available from the University of California Press

	The second edition of The Jepson Manual (2012) is available from the University of California Press
	See also the Jepson eFlora, which parallels the Second Edition

CYMODOCEACEAE

MANATEE-GRASS FAMILY

Robert F. Thorne

Perennial from long, slender, jointed rhizomes, dioecious, marine aquatic, glabrous
Stem erect, sometimes short
Leaves simple, cauline, alternate or opposite, 2-ranked; sheath open; ligule present; blade 0.5–15 mm wide, ± linear, ± flat or cylindric, margin entire
Inflorescence: flowers 1–2 (or bracted cyme), axillary
Flowers minute; perianth 0
Staminate flower: stamens 2, filaments 0 or short and ± fused; pollen filament-like, sticking together in string-like bodies < 1 mm wide
Pistillate flower: pistils 1–2, simple, ovary superior, chamber 1, ovule 1, style 1, lobes 0–3
Fruit: utricle
Seed 1
Genera in family: 5 genera, ± 13 species: tropical, subtropical worldwide.