Bladderwrack

This Bladderwrack, Fucus vesiculosus which I picked up on the beach at Scarborough a week or so ago, has been in a bucket of water, tap water, waiting for me to get around to drawing it. I did change the water once because it was getting cloudy.

The pattern of branching - always dividing into two - is growth pattern found not just in seaweeds but in a number of the more primitive groups of plants, such as clubmosses.

I was considering of adding a colour wash to my drawing but I wanted to do this as a brush pen drawing so - to give you an idea of the colour - I put the seaweed itself on the glass of my scanner, with a sheet of paper over it to protect the lid of the scanner. I made sure that I wiped the glass straight after doing the scan as I'd noticed that the moist seaweed had left the paper (left) I'd rested it on as I drew it.

Bladders and Midribs

Scanning has the advantage that I've been able to adjust the contrast so that the bladderack doesn't appear to be such a dark olive green or brown - almost blackish - and you can see its structure more easily.

The bladders (left), which give the seaweed its alternative name of popweed, give the seaweed bouyancy.

The fronds have a prominent midrib.

Habitat

Found on the midshore and in estuaries. In sheltered situations it can grow with its holdfast attached to small pebbles.

Related Links

The Seaweed Site

Algaebase a database of terrestrial, marine and freshwater algae including seaweeds.

Medicinal uses of bladderwrack from A Modern Herbal, first published in 1931, by Mrs. M. Grieve at www.botanical.com