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A biological study of Desmarestia firma (C.Ag.) Skottsb. (Phaeophyceae, Desmarestiales)

Bibliography: leaves 212-232.

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Main Author: Anderson, Robert James
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: Department of Biological Sciences 2015
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access_status_str Open Access
author Anderson, Robert James
author_browse Anderson, Robert James
author_facet Anderson, Robert James
author_sort Anderson, Robert James
collection Thesis
description Bibliography: leaves 212-232.
format Thesis
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institution University of Cape Town (South Africa)
language eng
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:31:53.390Z
license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
publishDate 2015
publishDateRange 2015
publishDateSort 2015
publisher Department of Biological Sciences
publisherStr Department of Biological Sciences
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spelling oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/15675 A biological study of Desmarestia firma (C.Ag.) Skottsb. (Phaeophyceae, Desmarestiales) Anderson, Robert James Botany Bibliography: leaves 212-232. Several aspects of the biology of Desmarestia firma (C.Ag.) Skottsb., a common understorey alga in western Cape (Southern Africa) kelp beds, are investigated. The life-history of this species is described from culture. Zoospores from unilocular sporangia give rise to separate filamentous male and female gametophytes. Male gametophytes bear flask-shaped antheridia, each containing a single antherozooid. Female gametophytes bear club-shaped oogonia, each producing one or perhaps more eggs. Trichothallic sporophytes are fused to the female gametophytes. Specimens were cultured to a stage where they produced rhizoids and cortication became apparent. This is the first description of the life-history of a branched, ligulate Desmarestia species, and refutes the suggestion that in oppositely branched species, gametophytes are monoecious. Nomenclatural problems associated with D. firma are discussed, and the taxonomic relationships of D. firma and closely related species are investigated. Results show varying degrees of morphological overlap between this entity and certain others from North West America, South America and Morocco. Microscopic examinations show that sporophytes from New Zealand, Gough Island, South America and N.W. America have the same reproductive anatomy as D. firma, i.e. with sporangia scattered among, and similar in size and shape to the cells of the outer cortical layer. Material from the South Orkney Islands shows sporangia interspersed with sterile paraphyses and arranged in an elevated sorus. The taxonomic implications of these results are discussed, and the name D. firma is provisionally retained for the Southern African entity. 2015-12-08T06:59:57Z 2015-12-08T06:59:57Z 1982 Doctoral Thesis Doctoral PhD http://hdl.handle.net/11427/15675 eng application/pdf Department of Biological Sciences Faculty of Science University of Cape Town
spellingShingle Botany
Anderson, Robert James
A biological study of Desmarestia firma (C.Ag.) Skottsb. (Phaeophyceae, Desmarestiales)
thesis_degree_str Doctoral
title A biological study of Desmarestia firma (C.Ag.) Skottsb. (Phaeophyceae, Desmarestiales)
title_full A biological study of Desmarestia firma (C.Ag.) Skottsb. (Phaeophyceae, Desmarestiales)
title_fullStr A biological study of Desmarestia firma (C.Ag.) Skottsb. (Phaeophyceae, Desmarestiales)
title_full_unstemmed A biological study of Desmarestia firma (C.Ag.) Skottsb. (Phaeophyceae, Desmarestiales)
title_short A biological study of Desmarestia firma (C.Ag.) Skottsb. (Phaeophyceae, Desmarestiales)
title_sort biological study of desmarestia firma c ag skottsb phaeophyceae desmarestiales
topic Botany
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/15675
work_keys_str_mv AT andersonrobertjames abiologicalstudyofdesmarestiafirmacagskottsbphaeophyceaedesmarestiales
AT andersonrobertjames biologicalstudyofdesmarestiafirmacagskottsbphaeophyceaedesmarestiales