IRISH MOSS

also called Carrageen (Chondrus crispus), species of red algae, a small, tufted seaweed with thin fronds from 5 to 25 cm (2 to 10 inches) long, that grows abundantly along the rocky parts of the Atlantic coast of the British Isles, Europe, and North America. The name is also used loosely for several other red seaweeds found associated with Chondrus. Other names descriptive of its appearance are pearl moss, curly moss, and jelly moss. The plant is soft and cartilaginous, varying in colour from a greenish yellow to a dark purple; when sun-dried and bleached it has a yellowish, translucent, hornlike aspect and consistency. The principal constituent of Irish moss is a gelatinous substance, carrageenan. Carrageen extract is produced commercially by boiling dried Irish moss and is used for curing leather and as an emulsifying and suspending agent in pharmaceuticals, food products, cosmetics, and shoe polishes. In North America it is harvested from shallow water by dredging with special rakes; in Europe it is obtained from plants cast ashore.