Kun Bu

Laminaria japonica J.E.Areschoug (now often placed in Saccharina) and Ecklonia kurome Okamura are large brown marine algae in the order Laminariales (Laminariaceae), both of which are used interchangeably as the source of Kun Bu. Laminaria japonica forms a long, leathery, ribbon-like blade typically 2 to 6 meters long and 20 to 50 cm wide, with a smooth, undivided lamina, a short stipe and a branched, root-like holdfast that anchors it to subtidal rocks in cold temperate waters along the coasts of northern China, Korea and Japan. Ecklonia kurome is smaller, with a digitately divided blade and a tougher, more cartilaginous texture. Both species are harvested, washed and sun-dried, producing dark olive-green to nearly black, leathery sheets that are folded or shredded for medicinal and culinary use. As a non-vascular marine alga the thallus has no true roots, stems or leaves; the entire dried thallus is used in traditional Chinese medicine.