Biodiversity & Conservation

Furbelows - Saccorhiza polyschides

Saccorhiza polyschides

Image Sue Scott - Base of blade and stipe of Saccorhiza polyschides. Image width ca 50 cm.
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Distribution map

Saccorhiza polyschides recorded (dark blue bullet) and expected (light blue bullet) distribution in Britain and Ireland (see below)

Why do the maps differ?

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Saccorhiza polyschides is not listed under any importance categories.

Taxonomy icon Taxonomy Taxon English term
Phylum Ochrophyta Brown and yellow-green seaweeds
Class Phaeophyceae
Authority (Lightfoot) Batters, 1902
Recent synonyms Saccorhiza bulbosa
Map icon Recorded Distribution in Britain and Ireland Recorded from the all coasts of Britain and Ireland, but absent from Northumberland to the Solent.
Habitat information icon Habitat information Saccorhiza polyschides grows from extreme low water springs to a depth of 35 m. It normally attaches to rocks but is occasionally found loose-lying on small stones or shells. It can form dense stands in sheltered areas and can tolerate strong currents.
Text page icon Description Saccorhiza polyschides is kelp species with a distinctive large warty holdfast and a flattened stipe with a frilly margin. The stipe is twisted at the base and widens to form a large flat lamina, which is divided into ribbon-like sections. The species is an annual, and very fast growing. It is opportunistic and colonizes available hard substrata in the sublittoral.
Identifying features
  • Stipe flat, broad with conspicuously frilled margin and twisted at base.
  • Wide frond, without midrib and divided into ribbon-like sections.
  • Large bulbous holdfast with warty appearance.
  • Up to 4 m in length.
Additional information icon Additional information No text entered

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This review can be cited as follows:

Nicola White 2008. Saccorhiza polyschides. Furbelows. Marine Life Information Network: Biology and Sensitivity Key Information Sub-programme [on-line]. Plymouth: Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. [cited 09/02/2010]. Available from: <http://www.marlin.ac.uk/speciesinformation.php?speciesID=4284>