NAJAS MARINA

Family and Genus:- See- NAJADACEAE/Sect. NAJAS

Common Name:- Holly-leaved naiad

Homotypic Synonyms:- None

Meaning:- Najas (L) After Naias, one of the three mythological freshwater nymphs.

Marina (L) Marine, growing by or in the sea.

General description:- Submerged annual herbs.

Stem:-

1) Usually 10-50 cm, slender, dichotomously branched, brittle.

Leaves:-

1) Opposite, fleshy, up to 4·5 cm, 1-6 mm wide including the teeth, coarsely

spinose-dentate on the margins and often also on the back of the midrib;

a) sheaths, not or only very shortly auriculate.

Flowers:-

1) Inconspicuous unisexual, solitary.

a) male flowers, with a spathe.

b) female, without a spathe.

Fruit:-

1) 3-8 mm. indehescent.

Key features:-

1) Leaves, 1-6 mm wide including the teeth, conspicuously spinose-dentate.

2) Stems, spinose-dentate or smooth.

Click here for a glossary of terms used.

Habitat:- Submerged in fresh or brackish water 0-850 m.

Distribution:- Scattered in W. and N. mainland Greece. Widespread in Europe and

an almost cosmopolitan species. Rare on Crete known only from Lake Kournas.

Flowering time:- June-Sept

Photos by:- Salvatore Pasta