Palmaria palmata (Linnaeus) F. Weber & D. Mohr
Palmaria palmata
Classification 6
Phylum: Rhodophyta
Class: Florideophyceae
Order: Palmariales
Family: Palmariaceae
Source URL: http://www.algaebase.org/search/species/detail/?species_id=b79a88483d8527c6f
Summary 7
Palmaria palmata (Linnaeus) Kuntze, also called dulse, dillisk or dilsk (from Irish/Scottish Gaelic duileasc/duileasg), red dulse, sea lettuce flakes or creathnach, is a red alga (Rhodophyta) previously referred to as Rhodymenia palmata (Linnaeus) Greville. It grows on the northern coasts of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. It is a well-known snack food. In Iceland, where it is known as söl, it has been an important source of fiber throughout the centuries.
Description 8
A foliose red algae with a tough flat frond usually between 20 and 50 cm in length, but sometimes up to 1m. The algae grows directly from a small discoid holdfast gradually widening and subdividing. The stipe is inconspicuous, rarely to 5 mm long. Older parts may have small 'leaflets' along the margin especially where damaged. Dark red, with purple tints under water.Sometimes the blade divisions are wedge-shaped and finely dissected above or the blade has numerous linear divisions throughout. This phenomenon seems to occur under fairly sheltered, silty conditions. Such plants are difficult to identify without examining the anatomical structure and the cortical cells in surface view, and have been confused with Callophyllis cristata (L. ex Turn.) Kütz. and Gracilaria foliifera (Forsk.) Børk (Irvine, 1983). Palmaria palmata has a multiaxial, pseudoparenchymatous construction and, in section, can be seen to consist of a large-celled medulla bounded on each side by a small-celled cortex.
Distribution 9
Generally distributed around the British Isles. Europe: Portugal, Atlantic coasts of Spain and France, Baltic Sea, Norway, Faroes, Spitzbergen and Iceland. Greenland. Atlantic coasts of North America: Canada, Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut and New Jersey. Further afield: Arctic Sea from the White Sea and Baffin Bay. Pacific coasts of North America, Alaska to California, Japan and Korea.
Habitat 10
Epilithic and epiphytic, especially on Laminaria hyperborea stipes. Littoral and sublittoral to a depth of 20 m in both sheltered and moderately exposed areas.
Habitat 11
Depth range based on 328 specimens in 2 taxa.
Water temperature and chemistry ranges based on 31 samples.
Environmental ranges
Depth range (m): 0 - 34.75
Temperature range (°C): 3.434 - 12.348
Nitrate (umol/L): 3.822 - 7.121
Salinity (PPS): 34.690 - 35.363
Oxygen (ml/l): 6.069 - 7.421
Phosphate (umol/l): 0.336 - 0.439
Silicate (umol/l): 2.315 - 3.388
Graphical representation
Depth range (m): 0 - 34.75
Temperature range (°C): 3.434 - 12.348
Nitrate (umol/L): 3.822 - 7.121
Salinity (PPS): 34.690 - 35.363
Oxygen (ml/l): 6.069 - 7.421
Phosphate (umol/l): 0.336 - 0.439
Silicate (umol/l): 2.315 - 3.388
Note: this information has not been validated. Check this note. Your feedback is most welcome.
Life history 12
The full life-history was not fully explained until 1980. Tetraspores occur in scattered sori on the mature blade, which is diploid. Spermatial sori occur scattered over most of the frond of the haploid male plant. The female gametophyte is very small stunted or encrusted, the carpogonia apparently occurring as single cells in the young plants. The male plants are blade-like and produce spermatia which fertilize the carpogonia of the female crust. After fertilization the diploid plant overgrows the female plant and develops into the tetrasporangial diploid phase attached to the female gametophyte. The adult foliose tetrasporophyte produces tetraspores meiotically. It is therefore usually the diploid tetrasporic phase or the male plant which is to be found on the shore.
Culinary use 12
Dulse is a good source of minerals and vitamins compared with other vegetables, contains all trace elements needed by humans, and has a high protein content.
It is commonly found from June to September and can be picked by hand when the tide is out. When picked, small snails, shell pieces and other small particles can be washed or shaken off and the plant then spread to dry. Some gatherers may turn it once and roll it into large bales to be packaged later. It is used as fodder for animals in some countries.
Dulse is commonly used in Ireland, Iceland, Atlantic Canada and the Northeast United States as food and medicine. It can be found in many health food stores or fish markets and can be ordered directly from local distributors. In Ballycastle, Northern Ireland, it is traditionally sold at the Ould Lammas Fair. It is particularly popular along the Causeway Coast. Although a fast-dying tradition, there are many who gather their own dulse. Along the Ulster coastline from County Antrim to County Donegal, it is eaten dried and uncooked similar to how one would eat snacks at a drinks party.
It is used in cooking: dulse's properties are similar to those of a flavour-enhancer. It is commonly referred to as dillisk on the west coast of Ireland. Dillisk is usually dried and sold as a snack food from stalls in seaside towns by periwinkle-sellers.
Fresh dulse can be eaten directly off the rocks before sun-drying. Sun-dried dulse is eaten as is or is ground to flakes or a powder. In Iceland, the tradition is to eat it with butter. It can be pan-fried quickly into chips, baked in the oven covered with cheese, with salsa, or simply microwaved briefly. It can be used in soups, chowders, sandwiches and salads, or added to bread/pizza dough. Finely diced, it can be used as a flavour enhancer in meat dishes, such as chili, in place of monosodium glutamate.
Dulse contains iodine, which prevents goitre.
Sources and Credits
- (c) Bernard Picton, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://www.habitas.org.uk/marinelife/algae/F1860.jpg
- (c) Bernard Picton, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://www.habitas.org.uk/marinelife/algae/F1794.jpg
- Pierre-Louis Crouan (1798-1871) & Hippolyte-Marie Crouan (1802-1871), no known copyright restrictions (public domain), http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Palmaria_palmata_1_Crouan.jpg
- Pierre-Louis Crouan (1798-1871) & Hippolyte-Marie Crouan (1802-1871), no known copyright restrictions (public domain), http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Palmaria_palmata_2_Crouan.jpg
- (c) Cwmhiraeth, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Palmeria_palmata.jpg
- (c) Joseph deVeer, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)
- Adapted by Joseph deVeer from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palmaria_palmata
- (c) The Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/10658303
- (c) National Museums Northern Ireland and its licensors, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/5972462
- (c) The Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/10658304
- Public Domain, http://eol.org/data_objects/17407138
- (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palmaria_palmata
