Chlorodesmis baculifera (J.Agardh) Ducker
Phycologia 245 (1966)
Conservation Code:
Not threatened
Naturalised Status: Native to Western Australia
Name Status:
Current
Scientific Description
John Huisman & Cheryl Parker,
Monday 20 June 2011
Habit and structure. Thallus medium to dark green, erect, densely tufted, 4–10(–27) cm high, attached by colourless rhizoids and when adult arising from a matted bulbous base or stipe up to 5 cm high, formed of entangled rhizoids. Filaments sparsely branched, of uniform width throughout, (250–)300–500(–600) µm in diameter; wall lamellate, 6–10 µm thick; lateral branches slightly basally constricted; chloroplasts ovoid to lenticular, 2–4 µm long; amyloplasts elongate-ovoid, 6–10 µm long.
Reproduction. In much branched fertile tufts borne laterally on the filaments, with each branch of the tuft bearing numerous ovoid laterals that form biflagellate reproductive bodies (probably gametes) which are discharged through the branch apex.
Distribution. From Rottnest I., W. Aust., Waterloo Bay (Elliston), S. Aust., to Waratah Bay, Vic., and the N coast of Tas.
Habitat. An uncommon species, apparently confined to deep water or shaded habitats.
[After Womersley, Mar. Benthic Fl. Southern Australia I: 242–244 (1984)]
