Seaweed Flora of the European North Atlantic and Mediterranean 6.3 Seaweeds Biodiversity and Potential 129
Part A | 6.3
a huge amount of minerals and vitamins. Used for hundreds of years in seaweed baths, the oils from this
seaweed have positive effects on skin, hair and body.
The antioxidant [6.766] compounds found naturally
in this seaweed have long been known to have pronounced antiaging, skin conditioning, and repair and
hydrating effects. This seaweed is used as a food,
and is harvested for cosmetics, and it is harvested to
make fertilizer. Its edible properties are very similar
to that of bladderwrack and interest in this plant is
growing, as, being a thyroid stimulant it might could
counter obesity by increasing the metabolic rate. It is
also known to help women with abnormal menstrual
cycling patterns and/or menstrual-related disease histories. It can be stored dried to make a nutritious tea
as well as for use in soups and stews as a flavoring [6.833].
This species is collected, dried, and used as a soil
additive as well. F. serratus is used by over a dozen
businesses across the United States, Australia, France,
Italy, Ireland, and the United Kingdom in a wide variety of products, such as: antiaging and eye serums,
facial moisturizers and sunscreens, dental care compound, revitalizing compound used in skin and hair
products, hair shampoos and conditioners, bath soak
products, cleansing lotions, body buffs and gels, hand
creams, facial, washes, cleansers, and toners, and
fertilizers [6.833].
Fucus spiralis Linnaeus
Common Name. Spiral wrack
Description. Well-grown fronds are usually easily
recognizable by the flattened, twisted, dichotomously
branched thallus, lacking bladders, and the large, oval
receptacles at the frond tips, each receptacle being
surrounded by a narrow rim of vegetative frond. Nevertheless, younger plants are not always so easy to
identify, and even mature plants can be confused with
F. ceranoides or with bladderless forms of F. vesiculosus. Both of these species, however, have narrower,
more pointed, rimless receptacles [6.834].
Habitat. Attaches to rocky substrata on sheltered to
moderately exposed shores.
Distribution. F. spiralis is common on the coasts all
around the British Isles, Iceland, W coasts of Europe,
Canary Islands, Azores and Northeast North America
from New Jersey to Nova Scotia. There are also isolated
reports in the N Pacific.
Uses and Compounds. F. spiralis has been used historically for treatment of obesity, gout, goiter, and
corns, and also in weight reducing and revitalizing bath
treatments. It has been used for cattle feed, and as an
organic manure. This alga, regularly exposed to sun
radiation and its oxidative consequences, has developed optimal bioelectronics characters. It has a high
concentration of phloroglucinol derivatives, including
phenol acid, and in turn has been used in products from
companies in France and the UK such as nutritional
supplements, skin serum, body lotion, and compounds
and extracts used as ingredients in other skin and hair
products [6.835].
Extracts of this species have also antifouling [6.275], antimicrobial [6.269], antioxidant [6.225,
836, 837], anticoagulant [6.55], and antiproliferative [6.225] activity.
Fucus vesiculosus Linnaeus
Common name. Bladder wrack
Description. F. vesiculosus varies in color from olive
green to olive brown to reddish brown to almost black
and is typically about 40 cm in length (although fronds
can grow longer). It attaches to rocky substrates by
means of a small disk-shaped holdfast. F. vesiculosus
is characterized by the small nearly spherical gas-filled
vesicles (bladders) which look like bubblewrap and occur in pairs one on either side of an obvious central
midrib running along the center of the strap-like frond
(Fig. 6.51). The flattened, branching fronds can grow
from one to two meters in length, and the air-filled
bladders which keep the seaweed floating upright in
its rocky anchorages increase its ability to photosynthesize. Typically it grows gregariously, forming dense
mats of long ribbons up to one meter long and five
centimeters across. The appearance of F. vesiculosus
varies depending on the environmental conditions in
which it occurs; in more sheltered areas there are many
air bladders, whereas there are fewer in more exposed
conditions. Also, in small plants, air bladders may be
entirely absent. In exposed areas, it is beneficial for F.
vesiculosus to lack bladders, as this decreases the potential for severe damage, and minimizes the risk of it
being detached and swept away [6.1, 838].
Habitat. On rocks and stones in the mid-littoral; often
zone forming.
Distribution. F. vesiculosus is found on the coasts of
the North Sea, the western Baltic Sea, and the Atlantic
Part A | 6.3
a huge amount of minerals and vitamins. Used for hundreds of years in seaweed baths, the oils from this
seaweed have positive effects on skin, hair and body.
The antioxidant [6.766] compounds found naturally
in this seaweed have long been known to have pronounced antiaging, skin conditioning, and repair and
hydrating effects. This seaweed is used as a food,
and is harvested for cosmetics, and it is harvested to
make fertilizer. Its edible properties are very similar
to that of bladderwrack and interest in this plant is
growing, as, being a thyroid stimulant it might could
counter obesity by increasing the metabolic rate. It is
also known to help women with abnormal menstrual
cycling patterns and/or menstrual-related disease histories. It can be stored dried to make a nutritious tea
as well as for use in soups and stews as a flavoring [6.833].
This species is collected, dried, and used as a soil
additive as well. F. serratus is used by over a dozen
businesses across the United States, Australia, France,
Italy, Ireland, and the United Kingdom in a wide variety of products, such as: antiaging and eye serums,
facial moisturizers and sunscreens, dental care compound, revitalizing compound used in skin and hair
products, hair shampoos and conditioners, bath soak
products, cleansing lotions, body buffs and gels, hand
creams, facial, washes, cleansers, and toners, and
fertilizers [6.833].
Fucus spiralis Linnaeus
Common Name. Spiral wrack
Description. Well-grown fronds are usually easily
recognizable by the flattened, twisted, dichotomously
branched thallus, lacking bladders, and the large, oval
receptacles at the frond tips, each receptacle being
surrounded by a narrow rim of vegetative frond. Nevertheless, younger plants are not always so easy to
identify, and even mature plants can be confused with
F. ceranoides or with bladderless forms of F. vesiculosus. Both of these species, however, have narrower,
more pointed, rimless receptacles [6.834].
Habitat. Attaches to rocky substrata on sheltered to
moderately exposed shores.
Distribution. F. spiralis is common on the coasts all
around the British Isles, Iceland, W coasts of Europe,
Canary Islands, Azores and Northeast North America
from New Jersey to Nova Scotia. There are also isolated
reports in the N Pacific.
Uses and Compounds. F. spiralis has been used historically for treatment of obesity, gout, goiter, and
corns, and also in weight reducing and revitalizing bath
treatments. It has been used for cattle feed, and as an
organic manure. This alga, regularly exposed to sun
radiation and its oxidative consequences, has developed optimal bioelectronics characters. It has a high
concentration of phloroglucinol derivatives, including
phenol acid, and in turn has been used in products from
companies in France and the UK such as nutritional
supplements, skin serum, body lotion, and compounds
and extracts used as ingredients in other skin and hair
products [6.835].
Extracts of this species have also antifouling [6.275], antimicrobial [6.269], antioxidant [6.225,
836, 837], anticoagulant [6.55], and antiproliferative [6.225] activity.
Fucus vesiculosus Linnaeus
Common name. Bladder wrack
Description. F. vesiculosus varies in color from olive
green to olive brown to reddish brown to almost black
and is typically about 40 cm in length (although fronds
can grow longer). It attaches to rocky substrates by
means of a small disk-shaped holdfast. F. vesiculosus
is characterized by the small nearly spherical gas-filled
vesicles (bladders) which look like bubblewrap and occur in pairs one on either side of an obvious central
midrib running along the center of the strap-like frond
(Fig. 6.51). The flattened, branching fronds can grow
from one to two meters in length, and the air-filled
bladders which keep the seaweed floating upright in
its rocky anchorages increase its ability to photosynthesize. Typically it grows gregariously, forming dense
mats of long ribbons up to one meter long and five
centimeters across. The appearance of F. vesiculosus
varies depending on the environmental conditions in
which it occurs; in more sheltered areas there are many
air bladders, whereas there are fewer in more exposed
conditions. Also, in small plants, air bladders may be
entirely absent. In exposed areas, it is beneficial for F.
vesiculosus to lack bladders, as this decreases the potential for severe damage, and minimizes the risk of it
being detached and swept away [6.1, 838].
Habitat. On rocks and stones in the mid-littoral; often
zone forming.
Distribution. F. vesiculosus is found on the coasts of
the North Sea, the western Baltic Sea, and the Atlantic