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Mertensia maritima (L.) Gray

Oysterleaf (en), Mertensie maritime (fr)

Species

Angiosperms > Boraginales > Boraginaceae > Mertensia

Characteristics

Spreading or decumbent, to 1 m, glabrous throughout; principal cauline lvs ovate to spatulate-obovate, 2–6 cm, obtuse to acuminate, broadly petioled; cymes usually numerous, often divaricate, lax, and conspicuously leafy-bracted; cal-lobes broadly triangular-ovate, 2–3 mm, larger in fr; cor 6–9 mm, the tube longer than the limb; anthers elliptic, 1–1.5 mm; 2n=24. Along the seacoast; Greenland to Mass.; Alas. to B.C.; n. Europe. June–Aug. (Pneumaria m.)
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A herb that keeps growing from year to year. It grows along the ground and forms bushy mats. The stems are 10-25 cm long. The leaves are smooth and without hairs. They are thick and fleshy and has a waxy covering. They are bluish-grey and spoon shaped. The flowering stems are branched and lie along the ground and turn up at the tips. The flowers are 6 mm wide and pink but become blue. They are bell shaped. The fruit is a small hard nut.
Life form perennial
Growth form herb
Growth support -
Foliage retention deciduous
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination
Spread -
Mature width (meter) 0.13 - 0.33
Mature height (meter) 0.2
Root system tap-root
Rooting depth (meter) -
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color
Blooming months -
Fruit color -
Fruiting months -
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway c3

Environment

It is a cold temperate plant. It grows on gravelly and sometimes sandy beaches. It suits hardiness zones 3-7.
More
Shingle by the sea. Uncommon and declining.
Light 6-9
Soil humidity 1-6
Soil texture 3-6
Soil acidity 3-8
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 3-8

Usage

The fleshy leaves are eaten raw or cooked. They are often cooked with eggs. They can be added to salads. The underground stems or rhizomes are eaten.
Uses environmental use medicinal
Edible flowers leaves roots
Therapeutic use -
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Seeds can be carried in sea water and germinate amongst seaweed.
Mode seedlings
Germination duration (days) 30 - 60
Germination temperacture (C°) 9 - 10
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment stratification
Minimum temperature (C°) -
Optimum temperature (C°) -
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Images

Leaf

Mertensia maritima leaf picture by Bart Demeestere (cc-by-sa)
Mertensia maritima leaf picture by Prokhorov Vitaliy (cc-by-sa)
Mertensia maritima leaf picture by Hans Rudolf Oberholzer (cc-by-sa)

Flower

Mertensia maritima flower picture by Bart Demeestere (cc-by-sa)
Mertensia maritima flower picture by Foul Foul (cc-by-sa)
Mertensia maritima flower picture by Géraldine Camus (cc-by-sa)

Distribution

Mertensia maritima world distribution map, present in Canada, Denmark, France, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Greenland, Iceland, Liberia, Norway, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Sweden, and United States of America

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:118618-1
WFO ID wfo-0000368197
COL ID 6RB9S
BDTFX ID 122726
INPN ID 762304
Wikipedia (EN) Link
Wikipedia (FR) Link

Synonyms

Mertensia maritima f. maritima Lithospermum maritimum Lithospermum simplicissimum Mertensia maritima Pulmonaria maritima Pulmonaria parviflora Casselia parviflora Pulmonaria procumbens Casselia maritima Cerinthodes maritima Mertensia parviflora Pneumaria maritima Hippoglossum maritimum Steenhammera maritima Mertensia maritima subsp. maritima Mertensia maritima var. maritima

Lower taxons

Mertensia maritima subsp. czukotica
WorldFloraDB 2024