- Reference
- Abh.Naturwiss.Naturwiss.Verein Hamburg 5(2):56 (1871)
- Conservation Code
- Not threatened
- Naturalised Status
- Native to Western Australia
- Name Status
- Current
Scientific Description
Habit and structure. Thallus upright to partially decumbent, to 12 cm in height, red to purple (often with a blotchy iridescence underwater), cartilaginous; subdichotomously branched; branches terete or slightly compressed, (2–)3.5–4.5(–5.0) mm in diameter. Structure apparently uniaxial but central axis obscure, pseudoparenchymatous, with large medullary cells grading abruptly into a smaller-celled cortex.
Reproduction. Tetrasporangia scattered in outer cortex, cruciately divided, 40–50 x 20–25 µm; spermatangia in verrucosa-type conceptacles 40–50 µm wide; cystocarps to 2 mm in diameter, deeply embedded in the thallus, surrounded by a clearly demarcated ring of hyaline tissue.
Distribution. From the Houtman Abrolhos, W. Aust., around northern Australia. Indo-Pacific.
Habitat. Epilithic.
Distribution
- IBRA Regions
- Carnarvon, Dampierland, Geraldton Sandplains, Pilbara.
- IBRA Subregions
- Cape Range, Geraldton Hills, Pindanland, Roebourne.
- IMCRA Regions
- Abrolhos Islands, Central West Coast, Kimberley, Leeuwin-Naturaliste, Ningaloo, Pilbara (offshore).
- Local Government Areas (LGAs)
- Ashburton, Broome, Carnarvon, Cockburn, Exmouth, Greater Geraldton, Karratha, Wyndham-East Kimberley.