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Zostera japonica
Also called Japanese eel-grass, Japanese Eelgrass, Narrow Bladed Eelgrass, Dwarf Eel Grass
Dwarf eelgrass is a small, fine-bladed marine seagrass native to eastern Asia, now established on the Pacific coast of North America where it is considered invasive. It grows in sheltered, shallow marine bays on sand, mud or silt rather than as a garden or houseplant.
Zostera japonica is a species of aquatic plant in the Zosteraceae family.
It is referred to by the common names dwarf eelgrass or Japanese eelgrass, and is native to the seacoast of eastern Asia from Russia to Vietnam, and introduced to the western coast of North America. It is found in the intertidal zone and the shallow subtidal, and grows on sandy, muddy and silty substrates.
It is considered native in the Russian Far East (Sakhalin, Kamchatka, Primorye, and the Kuril Islands), Japan, Korea, China, the Ryukyu Islands, Taiwan and Vietnam. It was first reported as being naturalized in British Columbia and in the US State of Washington, but is now considered invasive as far south as California. It is believed to have been introduced with a shipment of Japanese oysters some time in the first half of the twentieth century. This seagrass is mainly found in sheltered bays where the seabed is sand, mud or silt. It occurs in the intertidal zone and at depths down to about 3 m (10 ft).
Species code: za · Species code: Zs · Species code: Zp · Zostera capricorni · Species code: Zl · Seawrack · Zostera mucronata · Species code: Zc · Species code: Zg · Zostera novazelandica · Species code: Zo · Species code: Zt
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Zostera japonica by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
