| Abstract: | A new foliose red alga, common subtidally from British Columbia to the Aleutian Islands, is described and given the name Hommersandia maximicarpa. The lobed perennial thallus, which can reach a height of 23 cm, is distinguished by its vegetative structure and by its unique pattern of nonprocarpic carposporophyte development. In transverse section, the blades consist of a narrow filamentous medullary layer sandwiched on either side by large ellipsoidal subcortical cells and a thin outer cortex. The monocarpogonial branch and auxiliary cell systems of the female plants are typical of many members of the Kallymeniaceae. However, after the carpogonialfusion cell forms, a distinctive developmental pattern begins. The connecting filaments radiate outward into the surrounding tissue, branch abundantly, and become septate. They then contact, in addition to auxiliary cells, many small moniliform accessory branches. These branches appear to act as initiation points for the gonimoblast filaments. The large diffuse carposporophytes produced are unknown in any other member of the Cryptonemiales. The vegetative and reproductive anatomy of Hommersandia is compared to other Kallymeniaceae, and similar patterns of postfertilization development are examined in the Rhodophyta. |
