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Service Notice

The Western Australian Herbarium’s collections management system, WAHerb, and DBCA’s taxonomic names application, WACensus, have been set to read-only mode since 1 October 2025. Recent taxonomic changes are not reflected in Florabase, herbarium collections, or in the census. We are hoping to be able to reinstate services around December 15; we will provide an update at that time.

The notice period started at 9:00 am on Wednesday, 1 October 2025 +08:00 and will end at 12:00 pm on Monday, 15 December 2025 +08:00.

Ulva prolifera O.F.Müll.

Reference
Fl.Dan. 5:7, Pl. 763, Fig. 1 (1778)
Conservation Code
Not threatened
Naturalised Status
Native to Western Australia
Name Status
Current

Scientific Description

Habit and structure. Thallus light to medium green, erect from a small holdfast and often flaccid, terete or compressed, mostly 5–15 cm high and 0.5–2 cm broad, usually with frequent, proliferous branches but sometimes almost simple. Cells usually arranged in longitudinal rows, often partly disrupted above, and to some extent in transverse rows, typically angular and four sided in upper thallus, 10–14(–16) µm long and 8–12(–14) µm broad, more rounded and larger in the stipe (to 25 µm long); chloroplast occupying most of the cell, with a single, relatively large pyrenoid occupying 20–60% of the cell width.

Reproduction. Generations isomorphic, gametophytes dioecious, anisogamous.

Distribution. Widely distributed in temperate seas.

[After Womersley, Mar. Benthic Fl. Southern Australia I: 156–157 (1984), as Enteromorpha prolifera]

John Huisman & Cheryl Parker, 3 August 2021

Distribution

IBRA Regions
Esperance Plains, Swan Coastal Plain, Warren.
IBRA Subregions
Perth, Recherche, Warren.
IMCRA Regions
Leeuwin-Naturaliste.
Local Government Areas (LGAs)
Augusta Margaret River, Broome, Claremont, Esperance, Fremantle, Perth, South Perth.