214 



HERBS 



it has grown, but becomes flattened in its upper part, repeatedly 

 branching dichotomously, the branches being sometimes narrow, 

 sometimes broadly wedge-shaped. It has a slight odour of seaweed 



FIG. 112. Irish Moss (Chondrus crispus). Three different forms of the 



plant, a, b, c; a, with reproductive organs, natural size. (Luerssen.) 







and a mucilaginous saline taste. A decoction made with 20 times its 

 weight of water solidifies on cooling to a jelly, which is not stained 

 blue by iodine (distinction from Iceland moss jelly). 



Constituents. Stanford (1884) obtained from Irish moss 63 per 

 cent, of a gelatinous substance which he termed carrageenin. This 

 appears to be a complex mixture of carbohydrates ; it yields by 



