Edible Seaweeds

Edible Algae, Seaweeds of Australia: Sea grapes, Sea lettuce and Sea-string.

The sea can be cruel. It is shocking to see the devastation caused by the earthquake and resulting tsunami in Japan. The unfolding story is revealing total destruction of communities who live close to and derive their livelihood from the ocean. Large areas of their coast are set aside for the cultivation of seaweed which is an important food plant and essential part of the diet of the people. I often buy seaweed salad, imported from Japan, and it is delicious to eat. I am also familiar with wakame, nori, and kombu. Kombu (Laminaria japonica) is boiled with katsuobushi (Bonito flakes) to make dashi, a stock essential in Japanese cuisine.

In Australia there has been very little use of our native seaweeds in the food industry. During colonial times ladies made milk jellies from species such as Eucheuma speciosum of Western Australia and later this was used in the meat canning industry during the second World War when imports were restricted.The giant brown alga, Macrocystis pyrifera from Tasmania's east coast has also been used for the extraction of sodium alginate which is used as a stabilizing agent in foodstuffs such as icecream. Sea grapes, Caulerpa racemosa, which I often come across when exploring tidal rock pools, is easy to identify by the creeping stem with bulbous 'grapes' attached. It is cultivated in the Philippines for use as a popular salad vegetable mixed with tomato and onion and dressed with vinegar. Sea lettuce (Ulva lactuca) is another type which you may come across on rocky shores at low tide. The plants appear as green sheets about 15cm long and can be eaten raw in salads or added to soups. Sea string (Gracilaria species) is sometimes called Chinese Moss as this plant is used in China for a special dish celebrating New Year. It is found in bays and estuaries and consists of cylindrical or flattened stems up to 2 metres in length. It can be eaten raw or boiled but also can be dried for later use to make milk jellies. After washing in fresh water to remove any marine animals it can be dried in the sun for a week or so with constant turning.
The image of seaweed for use only as a garden fertilizer needs to change but it will take a celebrity chef with an eye for the unusual to create an interest in it and for it to become part of our diet as in Japan.

Variegated Cottontree, Hibiscus tilaceous Albo-Variegatus

Variegated Cottontree, Hibiscus tilaceus Albo-variegatus
under-planted with Iris japonica

It was a steamy tropical shirts off kinda day with more rain but fortunately not the deluge disastrous kind which is happening up north. This South Pacific beach tree sums up the weather when Mother Nature is in more of a party mood. It has stunning leaves which vary from white to hot pink. I have not grown this form but I would love to propagate it.The dark purple leafed species (atropurpurea) is more commonly seen here and its yellow flowers stand out well against the foliage. Like many Hibiscus, this one takes pruning into more formal or hedge shapes and is tolerant of salt laden winds and cooler growing conditions.
The plant taxonomists have been busy reclassifying some of the Hibiscus Family, Malvaceae. This one now goes by the name of Talipariti tiliaceum. The common name of Cotton tree is given because the fibre from the inner bark is used to make ropes or tapa cloth in Polynesia.
2017 update: elusive... but I have a couple of the purple leafed species in stock.

Isolepis nodosa syn Ficinea nodosa:Knobby Club-rush

Knobby Club-rush, Ficinea nodosa with clipped Westringea fruicosa

If you like exploring coastal ecosystems you would be familiar with this native plant growing in hind dunes or bordering damp swampy places. Despite this origin, it is perfectly adaptable to the home garden situation where it can be grown as a decorative plant in ordinary garden soil or as a container plant. The tall stiff stems to 90 cm carry globular flower heads at this time of year which last for many months and which make terrific cut flowers. The plant is slow spreading by underground runners and can be maintained by shearing off old flowering stems once a year. The old flower stems often lurch sideways under the weight of the developing seed heads. The plant is still known under the old name of Isolepis despite the name change to Ficinea.

Spinifex sericeus, Beach Spinifex

Beach Spinifex 
Spinifex sericeus

This native grass is familiar to anyone visiting a surf beach along the coast from Victoria to northern Queensland. It is one of the most important sand stabilizing plants in eastern Australia.The female inflorescence, which is pictured here, consists of a group of long narrow spines which change colour from blue-grey to straw as they mature. The spines are actually soft to touch and carry minute flowers. They are fertilized by the male flower which is a short fan shaped spikelet formed on a separate stem some distance away. When the seed is ripe, the whole female structure detaches from the plant and cartwheels across the sand shedding seed as it goes. They mimic the seed dispersal method of the desert tumbleweed familiar to those who enjoy old western movies.
I do not have any plants of it available for sale.