Division | Rhodophyta |
Class | Florideophyceae |
Order | Gracilariales |
Family | Gracilariaceae |
Basionym | Fucus edulis S.G.Gmelin |
Thalli erect, cylindrical and highly branched, arising from an irregularly discoid base, 12-15 mm. and about 2 mm. in thickness, thinning to 1.5 mm, at about the middle of the axis and then attenuating to the apex. Branches lateral, occasionally appearing sub-dichotomous, opposite often alternate, highly polymorphic; branches 1.5 mm. at the base, gradually increasing to 9 mm. towards the middle, and then attenuating towards the tip; branching up to the third or even fourth order; ultimate branches short, about 2-5 cm. long, 1.2 mm wide, often curved like tendrils. Cortex of a single row of cells, some cells produced into tubular hairs; cortical cells radially elongated, measuring 15 µm x5 µm. The Medulla of 4-6 layers of cells, the central ovoid, surrounded by broadly oval cells, becoming progressively smaller, and radially compressed in the outer medulla. Cystocarps elevated urn-shaped, scattered over the upper portions of the thallus; 700-925 µm high, 725-825 µm wide at the base, 800-1000 µm at the broadest part.