bladder wrack

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bladder wrack The common name for the brown seaweed Fucus vesiculosus. The thallus is variable; it is typically flattened and strap-like, repeatedly forked, and has prominent midribs and (usually) paired air-bladders which give buoyancy to the plant. Bladder wrack grows, often abundantly, on rocks, breakwaters, etc., between the high- and low-water marks. (‘Bladder wrack’ is sometimes used as a synonym for ‘egg wrack’.)