Ulva linza

Green String Lettuce, Doubled Ribbon Weed, Slender Sea Lettuce

Bazan Bay, Haro Strait, B.C., Canada.

6 June 2020

Collected at 10:55am PDT

Low Tide -0.3 feet at 11:29am PDT (measured at Sidney Tidal Station)

Weather: Multi-layered overcast, SE 17km wind, light chop on sea, shallow water highly silty, temperature 13˚C, relative humidity 80%.

Phase of Moon: Waning Gibbous (Previous Phase, Full Moon, 5 June 2020 at 12:12pm PDT: Next Phase, Third Quarter, 12 June 2020 at 11:23pm PDT.)

Figure 1: Ulva linza, a few young plants floating over a sandy beach in shallow water (some larger bladed Ulva species rim the picture). Bazan Bay, Haro Strait, B.C. Canada. May 24, 2020. Photo ID 27301 ©Seaweedwhisperings.com

In situ observations:

Person 1:

Love the greens!

Plant looks thin but strong.

Seeing different patterns:

Medusa hair.

Pleasing snaking formation against the sand.

Messy arrangement where clustered on rock.

Overall habit like an octopus body with arms.

A braided river delta.

Person 2:

Such green! Beautiful green!

I need to say it again, such GREENS! There is a vivid, full of life and expressed with variety quality to the shades of greens this seaweed displays.

You play with shapes, Ulva linza – which one suits?

Laid flat on the sand by the retreating tides, your reach is revealed.

Wrinkled look. Flat with wrinkles creates a low textured terrain.

Holds onto cobbles.

Each long trailing stem begins from a tiny green tube that then splays out into a wider, flat thin blade.

Grows fast? I think so.

Slippery. I’ll easily end up on my bottom walking on rocks coated with you – protects you?

Green tatters – that is the overall impression when seen from a distance.

Green streamers draped from the rocks and cobbles.

At this point in our efforts we decided to take a few samples home to work with further. As I got up from my beach-side observation place and we were transferring the seaweed back to our vehicle I experienced some clear impressions.

I felt nimble.

I wanted to be bare-footed.

I wanted to move like a well- balanced, nimble, athletic dancer / gymnast.

I felt great pleasure in my body’s ability to move and a strong desire to be moving it!

Figure 2: Ulva linza, ‘Medusa’ effect, flattened on the sandy beach at low tide. Bazan Bay, Haro Strait, B.C. Canada. May 24, 2020. Photo ID 27302 ©Seaweedwhisperings.com

Further Observations:

Person 1:

Beauty.

Observed the pattern of a cross formed by the seaweed on the sand; an image came to me of a horse-back rider carrying a crusader’s cross.

Shapes – looks like a pattern but I can’t see what the pattern is.

Visions come to me of an iconic nature, e.g. Medusa, Crusaders…

I looked back into the bowl containing the specimen and saw an enslaved maiden enveloped in a thin silky dress.

Fragile, easy to tatter.

Touch is almost silky.

No sound when rubbed.

No flavor.

But thin parchment feel is surprisingly unpleasant to chew.

No smell.

Thinking about the names of this seaweed:

Green String Lettuce – no association, puzzling to me that I found no association with this name.

Found myself wondering about the names that the ancients called the seaweeds. Did they name some of them? What do these names relate to in these regional languages?

“Ulva” – somewhat vulgar, distasteful sounding.

“Linza” – sweet, light-hearted, pleasant sound – name runs off tongue like the ribbons of seaweed spread across the sand.

Dominated and longing to be free; but not feeling desperate with the situation.

Numbed and suppressed; no sensations other than looks.

Spent very little time observing the seaweed in the bowl; no need to see any more, thoughts are already stimulated.

My thoughts are going in all directions, not haphazard / disorganized, but rather interconnecting the various pieces of this interaction.

Kept getting fixated on the four independent themes of:

beauty

suppressed

dominated

senses numbed

Found this Whispering quite difficult to work with in an ordered fashion. In retrospect all of the seaweed interactions have been like that. I felt dominated by a protocol instructing me to make certain observations – look, touch, feel, smell, taste, sound…, my senses demanded to flow where they wanted.

Figure 3: Ulva linza, a close-up view of the tubular base of the long ruffled blades. Bazan Bay, Haro Strait, B.C. Canada. May 24, 2020. Photo ID 27303 ©Seaweedwhisperings.com

Person 2:

The look in water is so different than when flattened on the beach.

Transparent bright green, deepened in color when it twists or ruffles or doubles up.

Smooth, slippery, silky to touch.

Looks delicate.

And the “look” really varies.

Some branches are quite flat and fairly broad, others are more ruffled and “lace trim-like”; makes me think of “Austrian linzer” cookies – with a lattice pattern of dough.

In the collection bucket many layers of green branches formed a kind of cloud layer in the water; different parts billowing, other parts thin and reaching, but all preventing you from seeing clearly through the water.

Layers of transparent green upon green upon more green.

Though a visual barrier, it wasn’t menacing – it actually was somewhat inviting. Shades of green, gentle layers, no rough edges, all softness, yet I have the awareness of the possibility to become lost amongst the “green clouds”, too. Inviting…, to become lost…?

The thin thread that each branch grows from is hardly noticeable, except when the seaweed is young that is all there is to the thallus thus far; once the blade widens out the thin thread-like base is all but invisible – yet it is the foundation. Seems backwards compared to other plants, say to a tree where the trunk and branches are typically larger than the smaller branches and foliage. Or maybe this is revealing of what living in water makes possible – a big foundation is not needed, but a good anchor is essential and then, well then you simply strive for lots of interaction with sunlight and water.

We observed this seaweed on a cloudy day – tide just out – this plant looks so thin that it would easily dry out in the wind and sunshine. Does it rehydrate well?

There are extensive areas of this plant where it is growing – Ulva linza, together with its near relative, Ulva lactuca; together they are the ‘eye-catching’ vibrant display of green on this sea shore.

Looks hazardous to walk on. It is very slippery and there are abundant rocks/cobbles to fall on.

Feminine movement when swishing in water.

Doesn’t resist the force of moving water but its ruffles make a dance of different gestures as the blade conforms to the water movement.

In water very smooth, slippery. On the beach gritty with clinging sand particles.

Tears easily across the blade.

Also tears very easily lengthwise down the blade.

There is the slightest bit of elastic strength to it, before it tears apart.

No taste.

Takes some chewing to make it break up – a kind of rubbery quality that is surprising for the thinness of the blade.

No smell.

Thinking about the names for this seaweed:

“Linza” – makes me think of trim, or decoration as mentioned earlier with “lattice-work” cookies.

“Linza” - lines; lines that make patterns in the water and flatten out on sand and rock. Lines making many and varied patterns.

Green. YES! Very lovely green.

String – yes, is a long chain of green that grows from a tiny string.

Lettuce – like a thin leafed variety or a ruffled green leaf lettuce, but a very long-leafed one!

“Linza” – when I sit with that word some more I note that somehow to me feels like movement – so, maybe it all adds up to “a line that moves”?

Try it out!

Turn this way, then that – all the while reaching, extending, growing.

All is visible.

Open to be seen.

Vulnerable? Sure, but there’s so much fun in trying it out!

And, I may look delicate, but I can stretch. I don’t always break but can give and then bounce back after pressure is gone, as long as the pressure is not too strong.

I need a good anchor point, so rocks are useful; but I also really enjoy the soft and shifting planes of a sandy area.

I like to be bright green – a shiny, lovely, clear bright green.

If my color is more brown or more black or more bile/vomit brown then I am not well.

It is plain for all to see if I am not well or if I am very well!

I like to move.

I like to reach.

I like to extend myself.

Am I curious? Only some small amount; for me the joy is to be moving, reaching and extending!

I clearly feel the pleasure here with the energy of this seaweed but so far, at least, the problem evades…

Ah, the problem – can’t ever quite reach it – can’t ever quite extend far enough, because I always get stopped – totally flattened, reduced to two dimensions and immobility.

Can only reach, extend, move the direction the waves allow – cannot go against the current. But can swirl and dance and wink in shades of changing green as I go along with the current.

Figure 4: Thin and translucent, the blade of Ulva linza is a flattened and broadened tube that is only two cell layers thick. Bazan Bay, Haro Strait, B.C. Canada. May 24, 2020. Photo ID 27304 ©Seaweedwhisperings.com

Discussion:

This Whispering had a never ending stop and start pattern.

There was an inability to get out of this stop and start cycle until we identified it!

For this macro alga, being immersed in water versus being stranded above the tide brings the strongest change in character and energy of any algae we’ve yet observed. With other algae when the water retreats, they look like they’re just resting in place; their form is not too much changed. With Ulva linza, however, the rising tide transforms this plant from a frozen in place, flattened, wrinkled, green sheet of cells to a lithe and dynamic life form.

Reality for this seaweed is a notable and relentless cycle of start and stop.

Once we were relatively satisfied with the completion of the ‘discussion’ write up, both Person 1 and Person 2 felt a necessity to lie down, flat in bed – which is highly abnormal for us to consider during the day. It seemed as if we needed to partake of the ‘flattened state’ of Ulva linza for a while – perhaps as a balancing experience to the leaving-the-beach nimble moving dancer feel!

After being ‘flattened’ for a while it was clear that there would be nothing but fatigue and dead ends if we tried to pull together the disparate points/components experienced with this Whispering – indeed, that is the point!

Each aspect runs on its separate narrow track.

None is more prominent or ‘right’ than another.

The need is to move – extend, reach wherever the path may lead.

There is no completion, only reaching, extending, stopping and starting; this cycle has no completion. And if the reaching and extending results in beauty and sensations both felt and expressed or if it results in those aspects being suppressed or dominated…, possibly the key is to add in the perspective of change and time. Those who are stopped will start up again. And those who are going will at some point be stopped again. But overall, there is motion…

Figure 5: Ulva linza anchored to its cobble – the young tubular thalli and older flattened blades are both visible. May 24, 2020. Photo ID 27305 ©Seaweedwhisperings.com

Biology & Natural History Information:

Description:

There is no doubt in recognizing this distinctive species in the field. The bright green thallus is narrow and tubular at the base but widens out and flattened out above. It grows into long, narrow ruffled blades that are only two cell layers thick. Dimensions are up to 45 cm long, 1 – 4 cm wide and cells are 10-15 μm in diameter.

Habitat:

This edible species grows on cobble, boulders and bedrock of the mid and high intertidal areas in protected and semi-protected bays. It also grows as an epiphyte on Bull Kelp (Nereocystis luetkeana).

World Distribution:

Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands; Alaska to Mexico; Taiwan; Korea; Japan; Russia.

Remarks:

Studies by Japanese and Italian researchers have shown that a seaweeds’ morphology may be dependent on certain epiphytic marine bacteria. When grown in aseptic (free from bacteria) cultures, Ulva and other green seaweeds lose their natural leafy morphology and grow instead into a loose collection of cells. If grown with bacteria, or even just a certain chemical isolated from bacteria, the seaweeds develop as normal. These studies give a glimpse into the chemical communication between seaweeds and micro-organisms in their environment that are yet to be fully understood.

The name for the genus, Ulva, is derived from the Latin, meaning “marsh plant”.

Classification:

Phylum: Chlorophyta

Class: Ulvophyceae

Order: Ulvales

Family: Ulvaceae

Genus: Ulva

Species: Ulva linza Linnaeus 1753

Previous name(s): Enteromorpha linza