''Durvillaea potatorum'' is a large, robust species of
southern bull kelp found in
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
.
Description
The species can be confused with ''
Durvillaea amatheiae'', which has an overlapping geographic distribution.
''D. potatorum'' has a shorter, wider stipe with more limited lateral blade development, whereas ''D. amatheiae'' has a shorter, narrow stipe and typically prolific lateral blade development.
Distribution
''Durvillaea potatorum'' is endemic to southeast Australia.
Uses
''Durvillaea potatorum'' was used extensively for clothing and tools by
Aboriginal Tasmanians
The Aboriginal Tasmanians (Palawa kani: ''Palawa'' or ''Pakana'') are the Aboriginal people of the Australian island of Tasmania, located south of the mainland. For much of the 20th century, the Tasmanian Aboriginal people were widely, and ...
, with uses including material for shoes and bags to transport freshwater and food.
Currently, ''D. potatorum'' is collected as beach
wrack from
King Island, where it is then dried as chips and sent to
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
for