Laminaria sinclairii
(Harvey ex J.D. Hooker & Harvey) Farlow, Anderson, & EatonKey Characteristics
- Holdfast a prostrate branched, often extensive, rhizome bearing finger-like haptera and many long, flexible, cylindrical stipes, each terminating in a single blade
- Blades long, narrow (< 5 cm) and smooth on surface and margins
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Database links
- Blue markers: specimen records
- Yellow marker: type locality, if present
- Red markers: endpoints of range from literature
View map from the Consortium of Pacific Northwest Herbaria
Notes: From Wingham Island, Alaska (59.99, -144.36833, UBC A27664) to just north of Ventura (34.28828 -119.33538).
Status: This species is easy to identify.
Habitat: Growing on rock, often but not always associated with sand burial and scouring.
Life History: Alternation of heteromorphic phases (large diploid sporophyte and microscopic haploid dioecious gametophytes). Sporophyte perennial, clonal; reproduces asexually from prostrate rhizomes. Blades are deciduous, eroding down to the stipe by December and regenerating in January (Markham 1972). Sori in patches, oblong to irregular in outline, one to many per blade on both sides of blade, produced in October, November, January, February, and March, occasionally in April and May (Markham 1972). Growth and sorus production higher in cool (12 C) conditions than warm (17 C); rhizome growth occurs with elevated nutrients, which are stored and recycled during warmer conditions (Demes & Graham 2011). Clonality may be an evolutionary response to habitats with high disturbance due to drag forces from wave action.
Illustration from DeCew's Guide to the Seaweeds of British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and Northern California
Laminaria sinclairii (Harv.) Farl., Anders. & Eaton
Lessonia sinclairii Harvey 1846: 460. Laminaria sinclairii (Harv.) Farlow, Anderson &Eaton 1877-89 (1878): no. 118.
Sporangial thalli perennial, to 1 m tall, 3 cm broad, rich dark brown; with prostrate, branched rhizome bearing many erect stipes, each terminating in single blade; stipes cylindrical, to 10 cm long, 5 mm diam., with abundant mucilage ducts; blades linear, entire, with smooth surface. Locally abundant, making dense patches on rocks (sometimes partially buried in sand), low intertidal, Vancouver I., Br. Columbia, to Ventura Co., Calif. Type locality: San Francisco, Calif. Absent on Monterey Peninsula. Because of the distinctive rhizomes, this is the most readily recognized Calif. species of Laminaria.
Excerpt from Abbott, I. A., & Hollenberg, G. J. (1976). Marine algae of California. Stanford University Press, Stanford, California. xii [xiii] + 827 pp., 701 figs.
Notes: As pointed out by Silva (1957), the correct authorship is: Laminaria sinclairii (Harvey ex J.D. Hooker & Harvey) Farlow, Anderson & Eaton, which can be shortened to Laminaria sinclairii (J.D. Hooker & Harvey) Farlow, Anderson & Eaton. J.D. Hooker is the son of W.J. Hooker and is often cited Hooker f. ("f" for filius).
NATIVE
Vertical Distribution: Low intertidal and shallow subtidal; deeper in its southernmost range
Frequency: Common
Substrate: Growing on rock that is often associated with sand and sand scour
Type locality: California
