Seaweed Flora of the European North Atlantic and Mediterranean 6.3 Seaweeds Biodiversity and Potential 85
Part A | 6.3
Order: Ceramiales
Alsidium helminthochorton
(Schwendimann) Kützing
Common Name. Corsican moss.
Description. Upright radially organized polysiphonous thalli, up to 15 cm high, with cylindrical axes
and progressively narrower distal branches. Branch
apices abruptly tapering; trichoblasts spirally arranged
on axis, present on every segment but soon deciduous;
parenchymatous cortication occurs to near branch apex
68 pericentral cells. Lateral polysiphonous branches
originate from trichoblast basal cell [6.352].
Habitat. Found on calm, shallow, photophilic
biotopes.
Distribution. Mediterranean.
Uses and Compounds. In Mediterranean, the Greek
physician, Stephanopoli, discovered in 1775 that the
red seaweed Alsidium helminthochorton, found on the
rocky shores of Corsica, have an efficient anthelmintic
action [6.353–355].
Boergeseniella thuyoides (Harvey) Kylin
Description. Cylindrical, cartilaginous, tufted, deep
brownish-purple fronds, to 150 mm high, from creeping
rhizoidal base; fronds distichously bi-tripinnate, patent,
short, of nearly uniform length giving branches a linear appearance; ramuli short, spinelike; polysiphonous,
central siphon with 812 pericentral siphons and outer
cortication of small, colored cells; articulations as broad
as long, barely visible [6.356].
Habitat. On rock and epiphytic in shallow, waveexposed pools in lower intertidal.
Distribution. NE Atlantic (Ireland and Britain to Morocco).
Uses and Compounds. Extracts of this species have
antiviral [6.337, 357], and antibacterial [6.358] activity.
Bornetia secundiflora (J. Agardh) Thuret
Description. B. secundiflora is dark red in color,
firm and rigid when fresh. The thallus is 520 cm
high when erect, fan shaped with blunt tips (apices),
much branched and tufted, with branches often curved
over. The plant has a jelly-like texture. Branches
are sparse at the base becoming denser toward the
apices [6.359].
Habitat. B. secundiflora grows on boulders and
bedrock, often under overhangs, from just below extreme low water to 3 m depth. It tolerates sand on rocks
and moderately to extreme wave exposure.
Distribution. NE Atlantic (England to the Canary Islands, W Africa); Mediterranean.
Uses and Compounds. Extracts have antifouling activity [6.360, 361].
Bostrychia scorpioides
(Hudson) Montagne
Description. Frond flexuous, dull purple, filiform,
much branched, inarticulate, dotted, subdichotomous;
the branches three or four times pinnated; pinnae and
pinnulee patent; apices strongly rolled inward [6.362].
Habitat. On muddy shores near high-water mark, on
lower stems of saltmarsh flowering plants, widely distributed, locally abundant.
Distribution. Atlantic shores of Europe, from England to Spain.
Uses and Compounds. Produces Sorbitol; the polyol
sorbitol is known to occur naturally in the Rosaceae
family especially in Sorbus aucupria and in the algae,
e.g., Bostrychia scorpioides. It is used in the pharmaceutical industry for the treatment against constipation
and it known to stimulate vascular contraction as well.
Its use in the cosmetics industry, especially in the manufacture of toothpaste is an example of a well established
use of carbohydrate and its derivatives in this sector [6.363].
Brongniartella byssoides
(Goodenough & Woodward) F. Schmitz
Description. Soft, tufted, deep purplish red fronds, to
300 mm long; main axis well-defined, bi- or tripinnate, bearing alternate, distichous branches. Branches
and branchlets articulated, with central siphon and 57
pericentral siphons, clothed with short, slender, repeatedly dichotomously branched, monosiphonous ramuli.
Its color is light red brown to almost black when
dry [6.32, 364].
Part A | 6.3
Order: Ceramiales
Alsidium helminthochorton
(Schwendimann) Kützing
Common Name. Corsican moss.
Description. Upright radially organized polysiphonous thalli, up to 15 cm high, with cylindrical axes
and progressively narrower distal branches. Branch
apices abruptly tapering; trichoblasts spirally arranged
on axis, present on every segment but soon deciduous;
parenchymatous cortication occurs to near branch apex
68 pericentral cells. Lateral polysiphonous branches
originate from trichoblast basal cell [6.352].
Habitat. Found on calm, shallow, photophilic
biotopes.
Distribution. Mediterranean.
Uses and Compounds. In Mediterranean, the Greek
physician, Stephanopoli, discovered in 1775 that the
red seaweed Alsidium helminthochorton, found on the
rocky shores of Corsica, have an efficient anthelmintic
action [6.353–355].
Boergeseniella thuyoides (Harvey) Kylin
Description. Cylindrical, cartilaginous, tufted, deep
brownish-purple fronds, to 150 mm high, from creeping
rhizoidal base; fronds distichously bi-tripinnate, patent,
short, of nearly uniform length giving branches a linear appearance; ramuli short, spinelike; polysiphonous,
central siphon with 812 pericentral siphons and outer
cortication of small, colored cells; articulations as broad
as long, barely visible [6.356].
Habitat. On rock and epiphytic in shallow, waveexposed pools in lower intertidal.
Distribution. NE Atlantic (Ireland and Britain to Morocco).
Uses and Compounds. Extracts of this species have
antiviral [6.337, 357], and antibacterial [6.358] activity.
Bornetia secundiflora (J. Agardh) Thuret
Description. B. secundiflora is dark red in color,
firm and rigid when fresh. The thallus is 520 cm
high when erect, fan shaped with blunt tips (apices),
much branched and tufted, with branches often curved
over. The plant has a jelly-like texture. Branches
are sparse at the base becoming denser toward the
apices [6.359].
Habitat. B. secundiflora grows on boulders and
bedrock, often under overhangs, from just below extreme low water to 3 m depth. It tolerates sand on rocks
and moderately to extreme wave exposure.
Distribution. NE Atlantic (England to the Canary Islands, W Africa); Mediterranean.
Uses and Compounds. Extracts have antifouling activity [6.360, 361].
Bostrychia scorpioides
(Hudson) Montagne
Description. Frond flexuous, dull purple, filiform,
much branched, inarticulate, dotted, subdichotomous;
the branches three or four times pinnated; pinnae and
pinnulee patent; apices strongly rolled inward [6.362].
Habitat. On muddy shores near high-water mark, on
lower stems of saltmarsh flowering plants, widely distributed, locally abundant.
Distribution. Atlantic shores of Europe, from England to Spain.
Uses and Compounds. Produces Sorbitol; the polyol
sorbitol is known to occur naturally in the Rosaceae
family especially in Sorbus aucupria and in the algae,
e.g., Bostrychia scorpioides. It is used in the pharmaceutical industry for the treatment against constipation
and it known to stimulate vascular contraction as well.
Its use in the cosmetics industry, especially in the manufacture of toothpaste is an example of a well established
use of carbohydrate and its derivatives in this sector [6.363].
Brongniartella byssoides
(Goodenough & Woodward) F. Schmitz
Description. Soft, tufted, deep purplish red fronds, to
300 mm long; main axis well-defined, bi- or tripinnate, bearing alternate, distichous branches. Branches
and branchlets articulated, with central siphon and 57
pericentral siphons, clothed with short, slender, repeatedly dichotomously branched, monosiphonous ramuli.
Its color is light red brown to almost black when
dry [6.32, 364].