What is Sea Lettuce?

About Sea Lettuce:

• Sea lettuce (Ulva lactuca) is commonly referred to as seaweed.
• It is a genus of green algae usually found growing on rocky shores of seas and oceans around the world.
• Some species of Sea lettuce also grow in brackish water rich in organic matter or sewage and can accumulate heavy metals. 
• It usually grows attached by a small discoid holdfast to rocks and shells, but it can also grow in a free-floating, non-attached form, sometimes in prolific masses.
• It needs a lot of sunlight to flourish.
• It is perennial, and grows all year, although the largest blooms occur during the summer.
• Large masses of sea lettuce are often an indicator of nutrient pollution in the water.
• In some parts of the world, people eat sea lettuce in soups and salads.
• Features:
  • It resembles leaves of green lettuce.  The color is often bright green but can range from dark green to almost yellow. 
  • The leaves can be narrow or broad and single or multi-lobed.  They’re often rounded or oval with ruffled edges and riddled with holes or perforations. 
  • They are rich in iodine and vitamins A, B, and C.

 

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Q1) What is green algae? 

Chlorophyta are commonly known as green algae and sometimes, loosely, as seaweed. They grow primarily in freshwater and saltwater, although some are found on land. They may be unicellular (one cell), multicellular (many cells), colonial (a loose aggregation of cells), or coenocytic (one large cell). Chlorophyta convert sunlight to starch that is stored in cells as a food reserve.

Source: 20 species of sea lettuce are present in Baltic and Scandinavian coasts: Research