Mertensia maritima

Life-forms

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Eudicots
Cladus: Core eudicots
Cladus: Asterids
Cladus: Lamiids
Ordo: Boraginales

Familia: Boraginaceae
Subfamilia: Cynoglossoideae
Tribus: Asperugeae
Genus: Mertensia
Species: Mertensia maritima
Subspecies: M. m. subsp. asiatica – M. m. subsp. czukotica – M. m. subsp. maritima – M. m. subsp. tenella
Name

Mertensia maritima (L.) Gray, 1821
Synonyms

Casselia maritima (L.) Dumort.
Casselia parviflora Dumort.
Cerinthodes maritimum (L.) Kuntze
Hippoglossum maritimum (L.) Hartm.
Lithospermum maritimum (L.) Lehm.
Mertensia maritima var. maritima
Mertensia maritima subsp. maritima
Mertensia maritima f. maritima
Pneumaria maritima (L.) Hill
Pulmonaria maritima L.
Pulmonaria procumbens Stokes
Steenhammera maritima (L.) Rchb.

Note: Taxonomy differs between Hassler (2020) & Govaerts (2020)
References
Primary references

Gray, S.F. 1821. A natural arrangement of British plants, according to their relations to each other, as pointed out by Jussieu, De Candolle, Brown, &c. including those cultivated for use; with an introduction to botany, in which the terms newly introduced are explained; illustrated by figures. 2: i–viii, 1–757. BHL Reference page. : 354.

Links

International Plant Names Index. 2020. Mertensia maritima. Published online. Accessed: Sept. 9 2020.
Hassler, M. 2020. Mertensia maritima. World Plants: Synonymic Checklists of the Vascular Plants of the World In: Roskovh, Y., Abucay, L., Orrell, T., Nicolson, D., Bailly, N., Kirk, P., Bourgoin, T., DeWalt, R.E., Decock, W., De Wever, A., Nieukerken, E. van, Zarucchi, J. & Penev, L., eds. 2020. Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life. Published online. Accessed: 2020 Sept. (. Reference page.
Govaerts, R. et al. 2020. Mertensia maritima in Kew Science Plants of the World online. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published online. Accessed: 2020 Sept. 9. Reference page.
Tropicos.org 2017. Mertensia maritima. Missouri Botanical Garden. Published online. Accessed: 25 Oct. 2017.
USDA, ARS, Germplasm Resources Information Network. Mertensia maritima in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service. Accessed: Mertensia maritima.
Mertensia maritima – Taxon details on National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI).
USDA, ARS, National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network - (GRIN) [Online Database]. [1]

Vernacular names
dansk: Almindelig hestetunge
Deutsch: Strand-Blauglöckchen
English: Harebell, Oysterleaf, sea lungwort
suomi: Merihalikka, halikka
français: Mertensie maritime, pulmonaire de Virginie, sanguine de mer
íslenska: Blálilja
norsk bokmål: Østersurt
norsk nynorsk: Østersurt
русский: Мертензия приморская
slovenščina: okroglolistna zvončica
svenska: Ostronört

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 Britain and Ireland, or sea bluebells.

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

M. maritima gets its name 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] This plant is native to Britain and Northern Europe, however populations in Scotland, Northern England and Ireland are decreasing. There are two other variations that exist, M. maritima var. tenella that is found in Canada and Spitzbergen and M. maritima var. asiatica that 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.[2] This plant mainly grows in a sub-Arctic climate and is exposed to very cold temperatures, waves that crash on the shore and strong winds.[3] Since this plant grows in a cold climate their seeds remain dormant and Skarpaas and Stabbetorp noted that a cold period (about 2 °C) was needed to break this dormancy.[4]
References

Delort E, Jaquier A, Chapuis C, Rubin M, Starkenmann C (November 2012). "Volatile composition of oyster leaf (Mertensia maritima (L.) Gray)". Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 60 (47): 11681–90. doi:10.1021/jf303395q. PMID 23140514.
Scott GA (1963). "Mertensia Maritima (L.) S. F. Gray". Journal of Ecology. 51 (3): 733–742. doi:10.2307/2257760. ISSN 0022-0477. JSTOR 2257760.
Alton S, FitzGerald R (April 2009). "644. Mertensia Maritima". Curtis's Botanical Magazine. 26 (1–2): 96–110. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8748.2009.01640.x.
Park HY, Kim DH, Saini RK, Gopal J, Keum YS, Sivanesan I (April 2019). "Micropropagation and Quantification of Bioactive Compounds in Mertensia maritima (L.) Gray". International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 20 (9): 2141. doi:10.3390/ijms20092141. PMC 6540335. PMID 31052234.