Algae

$4.35

Having studied the maps of various Caribbean islands, Mlle. Anna Vickers (1852 – 1906), selected the island of Barbados to extend her studies on marine algae. She spent the winters of 1898-1899 and 1902-1903 in Barbados where she collected some 215 species of seaweeds, 13 new to science and 14 never before reported from the West Indies. She fully explored the Barbados coastline from "a delightful corner named Worthing’, St. Lawrence with "the little church perched on high" to Bathsheba "with its huge rocks forming a point heading out to sea". Having published a short paper listing the algae of Barbados she then set about preparing a beautifully illustrated volume, Phycologia Barbadensis, but died before it was completed. The incomplete opus, with 93 chromolithographed plates of Barbados seaweeds, was published posthumously in Paris in 1908.

Marine Algae are the foundation of life in the oceans, converting the sun’s energy into food on which marine animals ultimately depend. Marine algae may be microscopic or visible to the naked eye in which case they are referred to as seaweeds. This stamp series look at some of the more common and attractive seaweeds found in Barbadian waters using illustrations from the hundred year old Phycologia Barbadensis.

10c. The brown alga Padina gymnospora has fan-shaped fronds and is typically found in relatively sheltered intertidal areas. The concentric lines on its fronds comprise rows of microscopic hairs and reproductive structures.

50c. Ulva lactuca or sea lettuce is so named not just for its appearance but because it is eaten like lettuce in other parts of the world. This algae with its sheet-like frond thrives in nutrient-rich areas and so is often a good indicator of land-based pollution.

$1.75 Brown algae of the genus Sargassum form dense rafts of seaweed in that region of the Atlantic Ocean near Bermuda known as the Sargasso Sea. This species, Sargassum platycarpum, is typical of the rugged east coast of Barbados characterised by strong wave action. Its small flotation bladders help keep the seaweed erect while it is attached to the substratum and ensure it floats when it becomes detached.

$2. Some green algae are calcified to deter predators as well as strengthen the seaweed to withstand the violent action of the surf. Udotea and Halimeda are good examples of these. Interestingly, Halimeda exhibits mass spawning where at dawn on certain days each year this algae sheds it gametes into the sea in a highly synchronized fashion ensuring successful reproduction.

FDC Caulerpa species are typically "rooted" in shallow sandy bottoms with a basal runner from which arise photosynthetic fronds. In one species these resemble fern fronds, in another bunches of grapes. What is all the more amazing is that these siphonous algae are giant single cells which can stretch over 1 m long!

TECHNICAL DETAILS

Country: Barbados

Title: Algae

Release Date: July 14, 2008

Designer: Derek Miller

Printer: BDT International

Process: Lithography

Stamp Size: 38 x 30 .56 mm

Sheet Format: 50 (2 x 25)

Watermark: CA Spiral

Perforation: 14 per 2cms

10c Padina gymnospora