| Abstract: | Two new propagule-farming red algae from southern Australia, Deucalion levringii (Lindauer) gen. et comb. nov. and Anisoschizus propaguli gen. et sp. nov., are described and defined largely on their development in laboratory culture. Deucalion is included in the tribe Compsothamnieae on the basis of its subapical procarp and alternate distichous branching. It differs from the other genera included in that tribe in that it produces 3-celled propagules, polysporangia, a subapical cell of the fertile axis which bears 3 pericentral cells, and an apparently post-fertilization involucre which develops from the hypogenous and sub-hypogenous cells of the fertile axis. Its gametophyte morphology has been elucidated in culture, as only sporophytes are known from the field. Gametophytes do not appear to produce propagules. Anisoschizus is provisionally included in the tribe Spermothamnieae on the basis of its subdichotomous branching, possession of a prostrate system and the production of polysporangia. It differs from the other genera of the tribe in the production of 2-celled propagules. Observations on the germination of the “monosporangia” of Mazoyerella arachnoidea and Monosporus spp. indicate that they are analagous to the propagules of Deucalion and Anisoschizus. The nature of these propagules and their role in recycling the parent plant are discussed and contrasted with true monosporangia. It is recommended that Monosporus be maintained as a form genus containing representatives from more than one tribe, as exemplified by plants from Lord Howe I. provisionally identified as M. indicus Boergesen which have both prostrate and erect, as opposed to only erect, axes. |
