Poor-man's Weather-glass

Name: Poor-man's Weather-glass

Scientific name: Laminaria saccharina

Category: Marine plants

Nature Stars: 40

What are nature stars?

About: A common 'kelp' seaweed, grows around the low-water mark, attached to rocky shores up to 20 metres deep.

How to identify: A large 'kelp' seaweed, dark browny green, with a single broad frond up to 4 metres long, with a crinkly, wavy edge.

Where: Common on rocky shores all around our coasts.

Fantastic fact: Kelp is traditionally used to forecast the weather: if it dries up, the weather will be fine. If it swells up and becomes damp, rain is on its way.

Photograph credit: Badalley