| Genus: |
Bostrychia Montagne in Ramon de la Sagra |
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Description: |
Frond fiexuous, dull purple, filiform, much branched, inarticulate, dotted, subdichotomous; the branches three or four times pinnated; pinnae and pinnulee patent; apices strongly rolled inwards (Harvey, 1849). Original publication: Montagne, C. (1842). Bostrychia. Dictionnaire Universel d'Histoire Naturelle [Orbigny] 2: 660-661.
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| Biogeography |
Atlantic shores of Europe, from England to Spain. |
| Uses and compounds |
Produces Sorbitol: The polyol sorbitol is known to occur naturally in the Rosaceae family especially in Sorbus aucupria L. and in the algae e.g. Bostrychia scorpioides. It is used in the pharmaceutical industry for the treatment against constipation and it known to stimulate vascular contraction as well. Its use in the cosmetics industry, especially in the manufacture of toothpaste is an example of a well-established use of carbohydrate and its derivatives in this sector. |
| References |
Irvine, L.M. & Dixon, P.S. (1982). The typification of Hudson's algae: a taxonomic and nomenclatural reappraisal. Bull. Br. Mus. nat. Hist. (Bot) 10: 91-105. Loiseaux-de Goër, S. & Noailles, M.-C. (2008). Algues de Roscoff. pp. [1]-215, col. figs. Roscoff: Editions de la Station Biologique de Roscoff. Maggs, C.A. & Hommersand, M.H. (1993). Seaweeds of the British Isles. Volume 1. Rhodophyta. Part 3A. Ceramiales. pp. xv + 444, 129 figs, map. London: HMSO. Papenfuss, G.F. (1964). Catalogue and bibliography of Antarctic and Sub-Antarctic benthic marine algae. In: Bibliography of the Antarctic Seas. (Lee, M.O. Eds) Vol.1, pp. 1-76. Washington D.C.: American Geophysical Union. Zuccarello, G.C. & West, J.A. (2006). Molecular phylogeny of the subfamily Bostrychioideae (Ceramiales, Rhodophyta): subsuming Stictosiphonia and highlighting polyphyly in species of Bostrychia. Phycologia 45: 24-36. |
| Habitat: |
On muddy shores near high-water mark, on lower stems of saltmarsh flowering plants, widely distirbuted, locally abundant. |
| Type information: |
Basionym: Fucus scorpioides Hudson |
![Download 'BOSTRYCHIA SCORPIOIDES - Harvey’s original illustration (Phycologia Britannica)' [Visivel]](/macoi/intra/imagens/download.gif "Download 'BOSTRYCHIA SCORPIOIDES - Harvey’s original illustration (Phycologia Britannica)' [Visivel]")