Saccharina latissima (Linnaeus) J.V. Lamouroux

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(Also widely known as Laminaria saccharina.)
Description: Yellow brown, to 3 m in length; with a claw-like holdfast, a small, smooth, flexible stipe, and an undivided laminate blade to 3 m long with parallel, ruffled sides and a elongated, tongue-like appearance. The frond is characterstically dimpled with regular bullations (depressions).
Distinguishing features: Stipe is relatively small, cylindrical in section and more flexible than those of Laminaria digitata and L. hyperborea. It is the only species in the NE Atlantic with an undivided frond, distinct bullations, and a frilly margin.
Habitat: Intertidal pools and occasional in the shallow subtidal, becoming more abundant at low water in sheltered localities with fast-moving water, such as rapids systems. In the subtidal, it is characteristic of intermittently disturbed areas.
Distribution: Circumboreal, N Russia south to Galicia, Spain, but not known in the Bay of Biscay from S Brittany to Galicia; common on most shores of Britain and Ireland.
Usage: Not currently widely harvested. Small amounts collected in Ireland for kombu by specialist companies.
Link: Algaebase

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