''Halophila ovalis'', commonly known as paddle weed, spoon grass or dugong grass, is a

seagrass Seagrasses are the only flowering plants which grow in marine environments. There are about 60 species of fully marine seagrasses which belong to four families (Posidoniaceae, Zosteraceae, Hydrocharitaceae and Cymodoceaceae), all in the orde ...

in the family

Hydrocharitaceae Hydrocharitaceae is a flowering plant family including 16 known genera with a total of ca 135 known species (Christenhusz & Byng 2016), that including a number of species of aquatic plant, for instance the tape-grasses, the well known Canadia ...

. It is a small herbaceous plant that occurs in sea beds and other saltwater environments in the

Indo-Pacific The Indo-Pacific is a vast biogeographic region of Earth. In a narrow sense, sometimes known as the Indo-West Pacific or Indo-Pacific Asia, it comprises the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the ...

. The first description of the species was by Robert Brown as ''Caulinia ovalis'', this was transferred to the genus ''

Halophila ''Halophila'' is a genus of seagrasses in the Family (biology), family ''Hydrocharitaceae'', the tape-grasses. It was described as a genus in 1806. The number of its contained species, and its own placement in the order Alismatales, has evolved. ...

'' by

Joseph Dalton Hooker Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker (30 June 1817 – 10 December 1911) was a British botanist and explorer in the 19th century. He was a founder of geographical botany and Charles Darwin's closest friend. For twenty years he served as director of t ...

in ''

Flora Tasmaniae The ''Flora Tasmaniae'' is a description of the plants discovered in Tasmania during the Ross expedition written by Joseph Dalton Hooker and published by Reeve Brothers in London between 1855 and 1860. Hooker sailed on HMS ''Erebus'' as assistant ...

'' (1858). The species name ''Halophila ovata'' is now regarded as a synonym of this species.Name Currency
The plant occurs around reefs, estuaries, islands, inter-tidal areas, on soft sand or mud substrates. The leaves are ovate in outline, appearing on stems that emerge from

rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome (; , ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...

beneath the sand. The roots get up to 800 mm long and covered in fine root hairs. It is often found in meadows that dominate a sand bank or other patch of sea floor. The arrangement of the plant, above and below ground, provides stability to the sea floor and habitat for other species. It is used as food by

dugong The dugong (; ''Dugong dugon'') is a marine mammal. It is one of four living species of the order Sirenia, which also includes three species of manatees. It is the only living representative of the once-diverse family Dugongidae; its closest m ...

, as is therefore known as dugong grass.

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q3024170

ovalis Ovalis, oval in Latin, may refer to: * Fossa ovalis (disambiguation) * Limbus of fossa ovalis The ''fossa ovalis'' is a depression in the right atrium of the heart, at the level of the interatrial septum, the wall between right and left atri ...

Angiosperms of Western Australia Flora of the Northern Territory Flora of Queensland Flora of New South Wales Flora of Lord Howe Island Monocots of Australia Taxa named by Robert Brown (botanist, born 1773)