Sea Kelp

Chondrus crispus

Common name - Irish moss

Description - Chondrus crispus, known under the common name Irish moss, or carrageen moss (Irish carraigín, "moss of the rock"), is a species of red alga which grows abundantly along the rocky parts of the Atlantic coast of Europe and North America. In its fresh condition the plant is soft and cartilaginous, varying in colour from a greenish-yellow, through red, to a dark purple or purplish-brown. The principal constituent of Irish moss is a mucilaginous body, made of the polysaccharide carrageenan of which it contains about 55%; the plant also has nearly 10% of protein and about 15% of mineral matter, and is rich in iodine and sulphur. When softened in water it has a sea-like odour, and because of the abundant cell wall polysaccharides it will form a jelly when boiled, containing from 20 to 100 times its weight of water. This red alga has large clumps of fan-like fronds, 3 to 7 inches tall. The fronds are flattened and may be narrow, branched, curled, or twisted. Several blades arise from a single holdfast and the tips of the blades are rounded. The color varies with locality and season, ranging from white, when washed ashore on beaches, to green and dark purple-red.

Habitat - Chondrus crispus occurs abun-dantly on rocks or horizontal ledges at or below the low tide mark and-in the shallow subtidal zone. It grows in sheltered, open coastal, and estuarine sites with strong tidal currents. It has also been found in water as deep as 60 feet.

Foraging - Irish moss is a perennial and is at peak for harvest in spring and summer. Harvesting in the summer is best for high vitamin A content. This seaweed is raked by hand at low tide from small boats or cut with sickles by wading out in shallow water. Storm-cast seaweed is often harvested from beaches.

Uses - As a source of the valuable carrag-eenan, this alga is of great commercial importance. When Chondrus is dried and boiled in water, carrageenan is extracted. Carrageenan is a gummy substance made of very large molecules that remain dispersed and suspended in liquids without settling to the bottom. It is used primarily as a thickener, stabilizer, and gelling agent in food and food products (jello, ice cream, salad dressings, chocolate and evaporated milk, pudding, frozen desserts, etc.), pharmaceuticals, toothpaste, cosmetics, paints, and textile sizings.

Red Algae AKA Nori

Common names - Laver, nori

Description - There are at least four species of Porphyra in northern New England waters: P. umbilicalis, P. miniata, P. Ieucosticta, and P. Iinearis. They are red algae, with color ranging from dark brown and nearly black to reddish-purple.

P. umbilicalis is most prominent with broad, very thin, papery, translucent blades, which are one cell thick. Its species name umbilicalis (meaning 'of the navel") comes from the fact that the small holdfast is usually centrally located and the membrane tends to have a pinched appearance where it joins the holdfast.

Nori is the Japanese name for various edible seaweed species of the red alga Porphyra including most notably P. yezoensis and P. tenera. The term nori is also commonly used to refer to the food products created from these so-called "sea vegetables". Finished products are made by a shredding and rack-drying process that resembles papermaking. Japan, Korea, and China are the current major producers of nori, with total production valued at up to US $2 billion per year.

Habitat - P. umbilicalis is found in the upper and mid-intertidal zone on rocks and mooring balls in protected waters. P. miniata, a bright rose-colored species, is found at or below the low tide mark. P. Ieucostkta is smaller and usually grows on kelp fronds and rocks in the shallow subtidal zone. P. Iinearis is also small, has a narrow blade, and grows to be 2 to 3 inches long. It is found in turbulent, coastal waters in the upper intertidal zone.

Foraging - The peak harvest for Porphyra is early to mid-spring. Fronds are tough by summer. It is harvested by plucking the seaweed from rocks at low tide.

Preparation - Porphyra may be air-dried or pressed into thin sheets. To air dry, seaweed is washed quickly in cold, fresh water and hung on a clothesline or spread on screens to dry in the sun. Porphyra can also be toasted over a charcoal fire, broken up, and added to soups and sauces. For use in Japanese cuisine (especially for "sushi"), certain species of Porphyra are pressed and dried into paper-like, 3-gram (.11 ounce) sheets, 18 x 21 centimeters

Uses - P. umbilicalis and P. miniata are air-dried and used in soups, in lever bread, and as a seasoning for many dishes. Some Porphyra species (such as P. Iinearis,

which has a taste very similar to the Japanese species P. tenera) are commonly used as a wrapping for sushi, a Japanese dish. Nori has antiscorbutic properties (prevents and cures scurvy), is used as an antibiotic, and reduces blood cholesterol.

Alaria esculenta

Common names - Edible kelp, winged kelp

Description - Alaria esculenta is an edible seaweed, also known as dabberlocks or badderlocks, or winged kelp. It is a traditional food along the coasts of the far north Atlantic Ocean. It may be eaten fresh or cooked in Greenland, Iceland, Scotland and Ireland. It is the only one of twelve species of Alaria to occur in the British Isles. This single-bladed kelp is olive brown, about 6 inches wide, and 6 to 12 feet long with a distinct flattened midrib, thin ruffled edges, and small, spatula-shaped leaflets (reproductive blades called "sporophylls") growing near the base of the stipe. The blade is usually frayed or split toward the tip. Grows to a maximum length of 2 m. The frond consists of a distinct midrib with wavy membranous lamina up to 7 cm wide on either side. The frond is unbranched [1]and tapers towards the end. The base has a short stipe arising from a rhizoidal holdfast. The stipe may bear several sporophylls, club-shaped and up to 20 cm long and 5 cm broad. The whole frond is brown.

Habitat - Alaria is often found attached to rocks just below low tide out to 25 feet in areas exposed to strong tidal currents and waves.

Foraging - Alaria is a biennial (lives for two years) with a peak haNest in May and June. It is harvested from boats with long-handled hooks or hooks attached to long ropes. It is also collected by wading out in hip boots at very low tides and cutting the algae from rocks using a sickle. Regeneration is ensured when the main blade is cut 2 to 3 inches above the stipe and the sporophylls are retained. Leaving some of the blade allows the plant to regrow for another haNest while the sporophylls will produce spores, allowing the plant to reproduce sexually.

Uses - The scientific name esculenta means "edible" and describes its primary use as food. Alaria is often sold in health food stores as "wakame."

Preparation - Before using, soak fronds (and/or midribs) in fresh water for two days. Reproductive "leaflet" blades may also be eaten. Alaria is eaten fresh-chopped and added to a salad-or it may be sun-dried, crumbled, and used as a salty seasoning. It is best to store dried Alaria in sealed plastic bags to retain freshness.

Sea Kelp - Laminaria digitata

Common names - Horsetail kelp, fingered kelp

Description - Plants are olive-tan to olive-brown. A mature plant is broad at the base, becoming heart-shaped and deeply cleft with 6 to 30 narrow, flattened blades growing from a single stipe---hence its name digitata meaning "fingered." Its stipe is relatively short and thick and becomes flattened toward the blade. The holdfast is heavy, close, and fibrous. Horsetail kelp grows to 3 feet long.

Habitat - This kelp is found most abundantly below the low tide mark in areas exposed to heavy surf or strong tidal currents and occurs occasionally in tidal pools. A deepwater form of this plant may also be found in coastal waters at depths of 40 to 60 feet.

Foraging - Horsetail kelp has an annual blade with a perennial holdfast and fruits in winter. Harvest in the spring for high vitimin C but low starch. It is harvested at very low tides with sickles.

Uses - Laminaria is used in the production of potassium chloride and iodine. Dried laminaria sticks can be used medicinally to induce dilation of the cervix. It is also a nutritious food, and is often used (especially the species Laminaria japonica) in Japanese Cuisine. In the health food industry, it is used as a flavoring in soups and especially in baked beans. It may also be used as a cooked vegetable.

Laminaria is a genus of 31 brown algae species (Phaeophyceae), all sharing the common name "kelp". This economically important genus is characterized by long, leathery laminae and relatively large size. Some species are referred to by the common name Devil's apron, due to their shape, or sea colander, due to the perforations present on the lamina. It is found in the north Atlantic Ocean and the northern Pacific Ocean at depths from 8 m to 30 m (exceptionally to 120 m in the warmer waters of the Mediterranean Sea and off Brazil).

The life history of Laminaria shows two stages: a large diploid sporophyte and a very small and microscopic haploid microthallus. The large phase is a diploid sporophyte, and after meiosis it produces gametes with flagella. Half of these grow into male and half into female gametophytes. They grow to form microscopic branched filaments. The male gametophytes bear small unicellular antheridia which fertilize the egg cell which is extruded from the oogonium, but remains attached to it. The zygote then develops and grows to become the sporophyte.