Egregia
Species of alga
Egregia menziesii is a species of kelp known commonly as feather boa kelp. It is the only species in the monotypic genus Egregia. It is native to the coastline of western North America from Alaska to Baja California, where it is a common kelp of the intertidal zone.
01Description
It is dark brown in color, shiny and bumpy in texture, and may reach over five meters long. It grows a branching stipe from a thick holdfast. It bears long, flat, straplike fronds lined with small blades each a few centimeters long. There are pneumatocysts at intervals along the fronds which provide buoyancy. The alga varies in morphology; the rachis, or central strip, of the frond may be smooth or corrugated, and the blades along the edge of the rachis may be a variety of shapes.
02Usage
E. menziesii is used in baths or for thalassotherapy, along with species such as Turkish towel (Chondracanthus exasperatus), finger kelp (Laminaria digitata), and Fucus.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Egregia”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Feather Boa (6118563035).jpg by Leslie Seaton from Seattle, WA, USA, CC BY 2.0
- Surfgrass & feather boa kelp, North Moonstone SLO.jpg by Peter D. Tillman, CC BY 3.0
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