Seaweeds of the South African South Coast

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Order Gigartinales

Family Plocamiaceae

Plocamium beckeri Simons 1964: 185

Plants rather fine and delicate, bright red to pink, largely complanate, up to 15 cm tall; holdfast rhizomatous, intertwined; axes terete basally, becoming compressed distally, up to about 400 µm in diameter, usually with slight zig-zag along their length; branching prolific, distichous, alternate; a simple lateral alternates with a group of 2 (-3) compound laterals; simple lateral awl-shaped, up to 1 (-1.5) mm long and 100-300 µm wide at base, margins smooth. Tetrasporangial stichidia developing from modified laterals, clavate, simple or compound, often cruciform; tetrasporangia 65 x 40 µm, zonately divided.

Collections, ecology and regional distribution

Recorded from Struisbaai all along the south coast and as far as Black Rock, northern Kwazulu-Natal (23-58), in mid to lower eulittoral tide pools and the shallow sublittoral zone.

World distribution: Also recorded from Angola (Stegenga et al. 1997).

Type locality: Port Edward, Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa (Simons 1964).

 

Plocamium beckeri, Arniston.

Plocamium beckeri, branch detail.

Plocamium beckeri, detail of stichidial branch.

Plocamium beckeri, stichidia on lower branches.

Plocamium beckeri, stichidium.

Plocamium beckeri, tetrasporiferous thallus apex. Reproduced from Stegenga et al. (1997).

 

References Plocamium beckeri

Simons, R.H. 1964. Species of Plocamium on the South African coast. Bothalia 8: 183-193.

Stegenga, H., Bolton, J.J. and R. J. Anderson. 1997. Seaweeds of the South African west coast. Contributions from the Bolus Herbarium 18: 655 pp.

 

Cite this record as:

Anderson RJ, Stegenga H, Bolton JJ. 2016. Seaweeds of the South African South Coast.
World Wide Web electronic publication, University of Cape Town, http://southafrseaweeds.uct.ac.za; Accessed on 18 November 2024.