Ulva lactuca

Sea lettuce ( Ulva lactuca )

Sea lettuce ( Ulva lactuca ), also known as sea lettuce, is a multicellular green alga. Sea lettuce is particularly rich in magnesium, calcium as well as vitamin A, vitamin B12 and vitamin C. was or is eaten at almost all sea coasts; raw as a salad or crushed in bread to keep this moist longer. The sea lettuce can be dried used in biogas plants for waste water treatment.

Occurrence

The sea lettuce comes in the transition zone between intertidal and subtidal found in all oceans of the world. He prefers to grow lithophytic rocks, or less commonly epiphytic on bladder Tangen or mussel shells (especially the cockle ). It may form part of dense populations to a depth of 1 m. Overall, he is able to survive up to a depth of 15 m. He needs a lot of sunlight and can be kept on rocky ground in culture, where it can be harvested at the part twice per year.

Features

In size and shape, the flat, rolling, skin-like, solid, dark green colored thalli, which are attached by a short stalk, which serves as an adhesive organ on the ground vary. The thallus is vaguely reminiscent of a lettuce leaf. It consists of two layers of slightly elongated cells. Overall, a thallus can be 20 cm long. Spores are usually formed in surf exposed coastal locations. Then the thalli become yellow green and expire at the edge. The gametophytes are getrenntgeschlechtig.

Ulva has an isomorphic alternation of generations. This means that the diploid sporophyte is externally indistinguishable from the haploid gametophyte.