Postelsia
| Sea palm | |
|---|---|
| Postelsia palmaeformis growing in its native habitat at low tide | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Clade: | Sar |
| Clade: | Stramenopiles |
| Division: | Ochrophyta |
| Class: | Phaeophyceae |
| Order: | Laminariales |
| Family: | Laminariaceae |
| Genus: | Postelsia Ruprecht, 1852 |
| Species: | P. palmaeformis
|
| Binomial name | |
| Postelsia palmaeformis Ruprecht, 1852
| |
Postelsia palmaeformis, also known as the sea palm (not to be confused with the southern sea palm) or palm seaweed, is a species of kelp and classified within brown algae in the SAR supergroup of eukaryotes. It is the only known species in the genus Postelsia. The sea palm is found along the western coast of North America, on rocky shores with constant waves.
It is one of very few multicellular organisms with differentiated tissues that spends most of its life out of water and is neither animal, fungus, plant, nor closely related to either of those. It is edible, though harvesting of the alga is discouraged due to the species' sensitivity to overharvesting.