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The Western Australian Herbarium’s collections management system, WAHerb, and DBCA’s flora taxonomic names application, WACensus, have been set to read-only mode since 1 October 2025. Recent taxonomic changes are not currently being reflected in Florabase, herbarium collections, or the census. The Herbarium team, working with the Biodiversity Information Office, now have the Nomos-hosted WACensus in production, and we will begin to update the flora and fungi for WA within the system soon. The Specify project team continues to test and streamline the new collections management system, and we expect this to be online in October. Please reach out to us if you have any questions or concerns.

The notice period started at 9:45 am on Friday, 12 December 2025 +08:00 and will end at 12:00 pm on Thursday, 1 October 2026 +08:00.

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Chaetomorpha melagonium (F.Weber & D.Mohr) Kütz.

Reference
Phycol.Germ. 204 (1845)
Conservation Code
Not threatened
Naturalised Status
Native to Western Australia
Name Status
Current

Scientific Description

Habit and structure. Thallus dark green, epilithic, with tufts of several erect, rigid filaments 2–3 cm long, attached by a spreading, lobed, discoid holdfast and also rhizoids from elongate basal cells which are (1.5–)2–3(–4) mm long, clavate and 300–500 µm in diameter at their upper ends. Filaments only slightly increasing in diameter upwards. Cells 400–600 µm in diameter and L/B 1.5–2 below, and 400–800(–1000) µm in diameter and L/B 1–1.5( –2) above; cells not to moderately incised at cross walls; wall 30–50 µm thick; chloroplasts densely reticulate with numerous pyrenoids.

Reproduction. Unknown for Australian plants; elsewhere by biflagellate and quadriflagellate zoospores.

Distribution. In Australia, known from Belinda Beach, N side of Middle I., Recherche Archipelago, W. Aust., and Flat Rock Bay, S coast of Yorke Pen, S. Aust.

Habitat. In sand near shore on rock platform.

[After Womersley, Mar. Benthic Fl. Southern Australia I: 174 (1984)]