Mertensia maritima
Species of flowering plant in the family Boraginaceae
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mertensia maritima is a species of flowering plant in the borage family, and is known by the common names oyster leaf in North America, oyster plant in the British Isles, and sea bluebells.
| Mertensia maritima | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Boraginales |
| Family: | Boraginaceae |
| Genus: | Mertensia |
| Species: | M. maritima |
| Binomial name | |
| Mertensia maritima | |
It is restricted to gravelly sea shores, usually within reach of the highest winter tides in the Northern Hemisphere, reaching north to the northern parts of Canada, Greenland and Svalbard.
It is a perennial herb producing a stem approaching 50 centimeters in maximum length. The inflorescence forms a cluster of flowers which are first reddish, and later bright blue.
Description
Mertensia maritima is known as the oyster leaf or oyster plant because it gives off a faint smell of mushrooms and when eaten it tastes vaguely of oysters.[1] The chemical that gives this plant the oyster-like odour when its leaves are crushed is dimethyl sulphide, a compound that is noted for being a major part of the odour profile of raw oysters. .[2] It is native to Britain and Northern Europe; however, populations in the British Isles are decreasing. There are two other varieties that exist:
- M. maritima var. tenella is found in Canada and Spitzbergen
- M. maritima var. asiatica is found in Alaska and Northeastern Asia[1]
This plant grows on sand or shingle beaches where the ground can be siliceous or calcareous, and contains humus from decaying seaweed.[3] It mainly grows in a sub-Arctic climate and is exposed to very cold temperatures, waves that crash on the shore and strong winds.[4] Since the plant grows in a cold climate, the seeds remain dormant.[clarification needed] Skarpaas and Stabbetorp[citation needed] noted that a cold period (about 2 °C (36 °F)) was needed to break this dormancy.[5]
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