Kelps are large brown seaweeds which form underwater forests in shallow waters on rocky coasts. These forests act as a shelter and food source for a wide variety of plants and animals and are an important part of the marine environment.
Kelps are algae – they have no flowers and reproduce by spores, they have a stipe rather than a stem and they have fronds rather than leaves. They attach themselves to rocks by structures called Holdfasts; these are not real roots because they do not take in water and minerals.
Kelp has been washed up on the shores and used by man for hundreds of years, particularly in the Highlands and Islands. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries large numbers of people were employed in the kelp industry. Kelp was collected and burned; the ash produced was high in chemicals and was taken to the mainland to be made into glass and soap.
Kelp is still used by some farmers and crofters for fertilising the soil. In the past it was mixed with sand to make ‘lazy- beds’. It was also left to rot on fields and then ploughed in to improve the soil.
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