Drew-Baker focused on a type of nori unfamiliar to nearly everyone: Porphyra umbilicalis. It's a leafy seaweed that grows off the coast of Wales. Locals harvest it, grind it up, and use it to make bread or soup. Known colloquially as laver, it's still eaten in Britain but has not attained the international standing of nori.
Drew-Baker and her husband made a seaside lab where she could study its lifecycle. During her research, she noticed that she kept running across what seemed to be an entirely different species, known as Conchocelis. Conchocelis is a group of single-celled organisms that look like pinkish sludge and grow on the inside of abandoned shells. Drew-Baker noticed the pink sludge was especially common during the summer months, while the seaweed showed up during the winter months.
Eventually, Drew-Baker realized she was dealing with the plant equivalent of a superhero who is never seen at the same time as his alter-ego. These seemingly different species were actually the same. They were both a type of algae. In the summer, the leafy green seaweed sent out spores that collected and grew as the pink sludge in shells. In the winter, the pink sludge sent out spores that collected on debris (and bamboo poles) and built up into the seaweed again. In 1949, Drew-Baker published a paper in Nature detailing her discovery, "Conchocelis-Phase in the Life-History of Porphyra umbilicalis."
https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/11/how-an-unpaid-uk-researcher-saved-the-japanese-seaweed-industry/
Drew-Baker and her husband made a seaside lab where she could study its lifecycle. During her research, she noticed that she kept running across what seemed to be an entirely different species, known as Conchocelis. Conchocelis is a group of single-celled organisms that look like pinkish sludge and grow on the inside of abandoned shells. Drew-Baker noticed the pink sludge was especially common during the summer months, while the seaweed showed up during the winter months.
Eventually, Drew-Baker realized she was dealing with the plant equivalent of a superhero who is never seen at the same time as his alter-ego. These seemingly different species were actually the same. They were both a type of algae. In the summer, the leafy green seaweed sent out spores that collected and grew as the pink sludge in shells. In the winter, the pink sludge sent out spores that collected on debris (and bamboo poles) and built up into the seaweed again. In 1949, Drew-Baker published a paper in Nature detailing her discovery, "Conchocelis-Phase in the Life-History of Porphyra umbilicalis."
https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/11/how-an-unpaid-uk-researcher-saved-the-japanese-seaweed-industry/