Enhalus acoroides
(L.f.) Royle
Hydrocharitaceae
Enhalus koenigii Rich.
Enhalus marinus Griff.
Stratiotes acoroides L.f.
Vallisneria sphaerocarpa Blanco
Common Name: Tape Seagrass
Growing to 1 m long or more, this is the longest seagrass on Singapore's shores. It flowers quite regularly, producing large female flowers on long stalks that develop into a furry fruit.
Photograph by: Ria Tan
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0
Growing to 1 m long or more, this is the longest seagrass on Singapore's shores. It flowers quite regularly, producing large female flowers on long stalks that develop into a furry fruit.
Photograph by: Ria Tan
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0
The female flower in full bloom. The white petals fall off the day after blooming.
Photograph by: Ria Tan
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0
During a bloom of Tape seagrass, tiny male flowers float on the water like bits of styrofoam. When several come near one another, they tend to form rafts by sticking in an orderly manner.
Photograph by: Ria Tan
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0
Ripening fruit
Photograph by: Ria Tan
Male flowers
Photograph by: Ria Tan
General Information
Enhalus acoroides is a perennial plant with underground stems (rhizomes), and long strap-like leaves that are 1 - 2cm wide and 30 - 150cm long. This is one of the few species of flowering plants that grow in the ocean, being found mainly in muddy soil along the intertidal zone.
The plant is harvested from the wild for its edible seed and as a fibre plant.
Known Hazards
None known
Botanical References
266- Title
- Flora of China
- Publication
-
- Author
-
- Website
- http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/china/
- Publisher
- Missouri Botanical Garden Press; St. Louis.
- Year
- 1994
- ISBN
-
- Description
- An excellent, comprehensive resource in 25 volumes. In addition to the botanical information the flora also gives basic information on habitat and some uses. An on-line version is also available.
Range
Coasts of E Africa through Arabia, India, China, southeast Asia to Australia and the western Pacific.
Habitat
Submerged in shallow sea water along the coast[
266- Title
- Flora of China
- Publication
-
- Author
-
- Website
- http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/china/
- Publisher
- Missouri Botanical Garden Press; St. Louis.
- Year
- 1994
- ISBN
-
- Description
- An excellent, comprehensive resource in 25 volumes. In addition to the botanical information the flora also gives basic information on habitat and some uses. An on-line version is also available.
]. Usually found growing in muddy soils[
].
Properties
| Edibility Rating |  |
| Other Uses Rating |  |
| Habit | Perennial |
| Height | 1.00 m |
| Self-fertile | No |
| Cultivation Status | Wild |
Cultivation Details
A plant of tropical coasts.
Needs to be grown in shallow coastal waters.
Edible Uses
Seed - raw, boiled or roasted[
46- Title
- Dictionary of Economic Plants.
- Publication
-
- Author
- Uphof. J. C. Th.
- Publisher
- Weinheim
- Year
- 1959
- ISBN
- -
- Description
- An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.
]. The raw seed tastes like water chestnuts[
].
Medicinal
None known
Other Uses
A fibre obtained from the plants is made into nets[
46- Title
- Dictionary of Economic Plants.
- Publication
-
- Author
- Uphof. J. C. Th.
- Publisher
- Weinheim
- Year
- 1959
- ISBN
- -
- Description
- An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.
].
Propagation
Seed - when ripe, the seeds fall off the plant. They are able to float in the sea water, but only for about 5 hours before they start to sink, thus they don't travel far[
]. The seed germinates almost immediately and the roots develop rapidly in order to anchor the young plant[
].
Like other seagrasses, this species spreads mostly by vegetative reproduction[
].
If you have any useful information about this plant, please leave a comment. Comments have to be approved before they are shown here.
Useful Tropical Plants Database 2014 by
Ken Fern,
web interface by
Ajna Fern
with help from
Richard Morris.
