Seaweed (Books)

Seaweed is an organism that appears in the How to Train Your Dragon Book series. Seaweed may refer to a diverse array of species, some of which are classified as plants, but not all. For the purposes of this Wiki, seaweed will be categorized under "Plant".

Description
Seaweeds can be analogously described as the plants of the sea, and appear to have stalks and leaves. However, seaweed is not related to the Kingdom Plantae at all. Seaweed is a general term describing large-sized, visible algae species. Algae itself is a broad term referring to a large number of species in assorted taxonomic groups. However, though not actual plants, seaweed derives its energy from a type of photosynthesis.

Function
In Book 1 of the Book series, seaweed is mentioned as a background accessory and as a descriptor. Apparently dragons' odors are "a salty stink of seaweed and old mackerel heads".

In reality, various types of seaweed are a nutritious edible. additionally, they can be used as a sort of environmental 'cleaner', as well as a fertilizer.

How to Train Your Dragon
Seaweed is mentioned in Book 1 to describe the smell of dragons.

Hiccup also finds seaweed annoying when some is stuck in his shoe:

"He was freezing cold and there was an irritating bit of seaweed in one of his sandals."

- How to Train Your Dragon