TIMES RECORD • March 11, 2021
Actual plants aren’t well designed to live in an ocean environment. Algae don’t have roots. They might have holdfasts, like kelp and rockweed, that look like roots. But these are not designed to slurp up nutrients like roots of a tree. Instead, algae are able to absorb their nutrients directly from the water they are floating in. Eelgrass is different. It is perhaps the perfect example of a crossover species between land and sea. It has roots and veins and flowers, so it is a true plant. Eelgrass is a very important part of our ecosystem. It has the unique ability to live beneath the water but sometimes show itself above and also to help maintain the boundary between land and water by stabilizing the shore that is so critical to keeping the intertidal healthy. ~ Susan Olcott