Herbs; nodes with 2 roots. Leaves: sheath 4--20 cm, margins not overlapping; blade 30--60 cm ´ 1--4 mm, margins serrulate distally, apex obtuse to truncate or rarely slightly notched; veins 5--7. Generative shoot 1--6 cm, nodes 1, without leaves, of 1(--2) spathes. Inflorescences: peduncles 11--40 ´ 1--2 mm; staminate bract 4--5.5 ´ 2--3 mm; pistillate bract 4--8 ´ 1.5--2 mm, base not narrowed, apex obtuse to truncate. Fruits 4--5 ´ 5 mm.

Flowering and fruiting summer. Upper tidal to subtidal, attached to rocks or rarely on deep clay substrates; - 6 m; B.C.; Alaska.

OTHER REFERENCES Felger, R. and M. B. Moser. 1973. Eelgrass (Zostera marina L.) in the Gulf of California: Discovery of its nutritional value by the Seri Indians. Science, ser. 2, 181: 355--356. Ostenfeld, C. H. 1905. Preliminary remarks on the distribution and the biology of the Zostera of the Danish seas. Bot. Tidsskr. 27: 123--125.