A Seaweed By Any Other Name...
It’s pretty common knowledge that seaweeds
have been around for a very long time....even longer than all of our wonderful
and diverse land plants. When naturalists started collecting and identifying
various plants and the seaweeds growing in and around the cold Atlantic waters,
they had great difficulty settling on a scientific name for what we now know as
Irish moss, or Chondrus crispus.
Initially, in 1762, it was called Fucus
filiformis, and then in 1767, Linnaeus saw fit to call it Fucus crispus. Then finally, in 1797,
botanist John Stackhouse (1742-1819) removed the species from the genus Fucus, and renamed it Chondrus crispus. The main reason for
all the name changes has to do with the variety of morphologies C. crispus can exhibit. It is
exceedingly ‘polymorphic’, and was therefore an early taxonomists’ nightmare.
In their description of this species for the Linnean Society, Goodenough and
Woodward, in 1797, stated that “No plant can be supposed to vary more than
this!”
Present day identification of Chondrus crispus however, is much
easier, attesting to the familiarity that comes with experience. Irish moss has
been, and still is, an extremely useful and versatile seaweed, recognized in
the early 1800’s for its robust gelling properties. Prior to that time, it is
known to have been used extensively for the treatment of chest and lung
ailments, including tuberculosis, as well as for the treatment of kidney
ailments, burns, and various gastrointestinal complaints. These medicinal
applications were so highly valued that a recipe for preparing a demulcent from
C. crispus “for diseases of debility”
was included in early Materia Medica.
The first formal recognition of the
peculiar gelling properties of boiled ‘Fucus’
crispus was documented in 1809, and
it was eventually called carrageenin by John Pereira in 1840. Numerous versions
of the name refer to the seaweed itself, and you may see it written as
carrageen, carrageen, carragheen, carraigin, carrageen moss, carrageen rock
moss, and so on. There has been some speculation that the name carrageen was
derived from a town-place in County Waterford, but that idea has since been
rejected.
Modern research methods using molecular
sequencing have indicated that C. crispus
most likely originated, surprisingly, in the North Pacific Ocean. From there,
its migration to the Atlantic occurred prior to the Pleistocene period via the
Bering Strait and the Northwest Passage. Scientists believe that this seaweed
survived the subsequent ice ages by taking refuge in protected areas along
European coastlines, eventually spreading again throughout the North Atlantic
once conditions improved.
In the fresh state, many seaweeds are
tough, or very chewy, and in the 18th century, household processing
involved cooking, or toasting in some way. Thus, Irish moss came to be utilized
more for its gelling properties, and soon, the carrageenan industry began to
develop. In 1854, Peter Lund Simmonds (1814-1897) appraised “carrageen” or
“Irish rock moss” as a feasible industrial commodity for commercial trade and
development in Europe. Other seaweed sources of carrageenan are now supplying
much of industry’s needs, and recent scientific studies have shown that, like
many edible seaweeds, C. crispus is full
of important nutritional components, beneficial to human health.
So…nomenclature aside, Chondrus crispus, with its fresh taste of the sea, has been used
for centuries in both food and medicine, and it continues to be utilized to
some extent in this way today. Our ancestors were compelled to turn to the
natural world for help in treating sickness, and it is no surprise that they
knew the importance of a dish that could be both food and medicine. Following
this link will take you to a lovely children’s story, written in 1892 by K. M.
Loudon and called “The Legend of Carrageen”. Make yourself a cup of hot tea,
put your feet up, and enjoy a colorful little history lesson. https://archive.org/details/carrageenandoth00scangoog
This lovely post is by Lynn Cornish. Follow her on Twitter @Sea_Garden
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