Laminaria hyperborea

Nutritional analysis

Like all kelps L. hyperborea is rich in iodine and several vitamins and trace minerals. For detailed chemical analysis, please look at L. digitata.

Laminaria hyperborea is easy to recognize at low tide by the appearance of stiff stipes

Often the red seaweed Palmaria palmata is growing on the stipes of Laminaria hyperborea

Distribution

Laminaria hyperborea is present throughout the northeast Atlantic extending as far south as northern Portugal. Dense beds of Laminaria hyperborea are present along a large part of the north, west and south coasts of Ireland. It exclusively colonizes rocky areas to a depth determined by the level of light penetration. The occurrence of Kelp becomes increasingly scarce as one moves from exposed coasts of full strength seawater towards the mouth of rivers. The stiffness of the stipe and its affect of leverage on the holdfast make L. hyperborea more sensitive to wave action than L. digitata.  

Description  

The word Kelp originally referred to the burnt ash of the brown seaweed and only subsequently became applied to the actual seaweed.  Laminaria hyperborea is a large, erect, brown-gold kelp that forms dense forests below the low water mark and can reach a length up to 3 m. It has a long stiff, rough textured stem or stipe, usually with epiphytic red seaweeds present

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Typical underwater view of Laminaria hyperborea

The stipe is round in cross-section and can normally be snapped by hand. Well-developed stipes are about 1 meter in length and 7-8cm in diameter. The end of the stipe breaks abruptly into a broad rubbery, smooth frond with finger-like blades similar to the frond of L. digitata. It is the abrupt change between the round stipe and the frond that differentiates L. hyperborea . The blades are often torn and indented by the pounding action of waves. The lower part of the thallus area has mucus-producing pores which encourages the growth of other, smaller epiphytic seaweeds (e.g., Palmaria palmata).