Life History and Reproduction of Furcellaria fastigiata (L.) Lam.: With two Plates and five Figures in the Text

Abstract

This paper describes the periodicity of the events in the life cycle and the development of the female sexual organs together with the subsequent growth of the carposporophyte within the female plant. The diploid carposporophyte which lives for one year is of the diffuse type and belongs to class C in Drew's (1954) grouping of carposporophytes. The mode of origin of the gonimoblasts and the nature and history of the auxiliary cell are remarkably similar to those of Halaracknion ligulatum (Woodw.) Kütz. Chromosome counts of the different thalli and the nature of meiosis in the tetrasporangium (part 2) show that in Britain, and in all probability in the Baltic, the species is a typical dimorphic diplohaplobiont or Drew's (1955) -a-B-A-a- type.