MORPHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF POSIDONIA-OCEANICA FLOWERS FROM A REEF FORMATION AND A SHALLOW-WATER MEADOW OF THE LIGURIAN SEA (NORTH-WESTERN MEDITERRANEAN)

The flowering of Posidonia oceanica in the Ligurian Sea has been repor ted few times from 1880 to 1990. Recently the presence of inflorescenc es or fruits has been observed about yearly in this region. On the bas is of a sample collected in 1994 during a large flowering in Noli mead ow (Savona), we describe the morphology and we analyze the morphometry of the inflorescences from shallow water and a reef formation. Compar isons with the morphometrical data of the inflorescences from the Aege an Sea allow to emphasize some significant differences which supply ne w information for the taxonomical revision of the genus Posidonia in t he Mediterranean Sea.