Sphaerotrichia divaricata

Thallus bushy, string-like, cylindrical, soft when young, firm at maturity, slimy, branching alternate or opposite, to 40 cm high, light-brown or olive-brown. Main axis percurrent. Branches of 1-4 orders, to 2 mm diam. Branches of the first order long, rodshaped, branches of the second order short, branched at right angle. Assimilating filaments of 2-5 cells (to 100 mm high) with large terminal cell. Medulla composed of longcelled filaments. Sporangia obovoid, 30×77 mm. Attachment by discoid holdfast. Growing on rocky bottom with stones, in low intertidal to subtidal, in open, semiprotected and protected habitats.

Europe, Asia (China, Korea, Japan, Russia), Australia, New Zealand.