''Apoglossum ruscifolium'' is a small red marine seaweed.

Description

''Apoglossum ruscifolium'' has branched monostromic blades growing to 10 cm long.Maggs,C.A. and Hommersand, M.H.1993 ''Seaweeds of the British Isles Volume 1 Rhodophyta Part 3A Ceramiales.'' The Natural History Museum, London The axis branches with primary blades reaching 10 cm long and up to 0.8 cm wide, each with a clear midrib and pointed apices. Lateral veins are microscopic. The species is similar to '' Membranoptera alata'' and '' Hypoglossum hypoglossoides'' but can be clearly distinguished. The branches of ''H. hypoglossoides'' are clearly pointed and the young blades of ''M.alata'' are not pointed and are asymmetric with pincer-like tips.

Reproduction

Microscopic sori are formed are microscopic and are formed on either side of the midrib. Female cystocarps occur singly on the frond.Bunker, F.StP.D., Maggs, C.A., Brodie, J., Bunker, A.R. 2017 ''Seaweeds of Britain and Ireland.'' Second Edition. Wild Nature Press, Plymouth, UK

Distribution

Recorded all around Great Britain and Ireland including

Shetland Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands and formerly Zetland, is a subarctic archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands and Norway. It is the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the no ...

, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. Norway to the Mediterranean, the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans.

References

Delesseriaceae {{Rhodophyta-stub