Ecklonia maxima

Ecklonia maxima, or sea bamboo, is a species of kelp native to the southern oceans. It is typically found along the southern Atlantic coast of Africa, from the very south of South Africa to northern Namibia. In these areas the species dominates the shallow, temperate water, reaching a depth of up to 8 metres (26 ft) in the offshore kelp forests.^[2][3]

Kelp forest seen from below,

Ecklonia maxima
Ecklonia maxima
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Clade:	Sar
Clade:	Stramenopiles
Division:	Ochrophyta
Class:	Phaeophyceae
Order:	Laminariales
Family:	Lessoniaceae
Genus:	Ecklonia
Species:	E. maxima
Binomial name
Ecklonia maxima (Osbeck) Papenfuss, 1940
Synonyms[1]
Ecklonia buccinalis (Linnaeus) Hornemann, 1828 Fucus buccinalis Linnaeus, 1771 Fucus maximus Osbeck, 1757 Laminaria buccinalis (Linnaeus) J.V.Lamouroux, 1813 Laminaria buccinalis var. macloviana Bory de Saint-Vincent, 1828 Laminaria flabellum Bory de Saint-Vincent, 1825

The kelp anchors itself by attaching itself to a rock or other kelp via its holdfast. From this root-like structure a single long stipe rises to the surface waters, where a large pneumatocyst keeps a tangle of blades at the surface to aid photosynthesis.^[3]

The species is of economic importance as it is harvested for both an agricultural supplement and as food for farmed abalone.^[4][5]