Posidonia
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- Pos(e)idonia also refers to the city of Magna Graecia later known as Paestum
Posidonia is a genus of flowering plants. It contains two to nine species of marine plants ("seagrass"), found in the seas of the Mediterranean and around the south coast of Australia.
The APG system (1998) and APG II system (2003) accept this genus as constituting the sole genus in the family Posidoniaceae, which it places in the order Alismatales, in the clade monocots. The AP-Website concludes that the three families Cymodoceaceae, Posidoniaceae and Ruppiaceae form a monophyletic group. Earlier systems classified this genus in the family Potamogetonaceae or in the family Posidoniaceae but belonging to order Zosterales.
- Selected species
- Posidonia australis Hook.f. South coast of Australia.
- Posidonia oceanica (L.) Delile. - This plant is endemic to the Mediterranean Sea, where it forms undersea meadows.
In 2006 a huge clonal colony of Posidonia oceanica, was discovered south of the island of Ibiza. At 8 km across and possibly up to 100,000 years of age, it may be one of the largest and oldest clonal colonies on Earth.
[edit] External links
- Posidoniaceae in L. Watson and M. J. Dallwitz (1992 onwards) The families of flowering plants.
- National Center for Biotechnology Information
- Germplasm Resources Information Network: Posidonia
- Flora Europaea: Posidonia
- Ibiza's Monster Marine Plant. Ibiza Spotlight, 28 May 2006.
