Tricleocarpa cylindrica

Thalli stiff, bushy, pinkish-purple, dull red, forming tufts, (2)-6-15 cm high. Branching regular dichotomous. Branches consist of heavily calcified, firm segments. Segments cylindrical, smooth, of the same diameter throughout, 0.4-0.8(-1.0) mm diam., (3.0)-5-10 mm long, constricted at dichotomies. Joints flexible, non-calcified. Apices truncate. Holdfast small, discoid, inconspicuous. Cystocarps spherical, 250-400 mm diam. Growing mostly on sandy bottom (on rocks, dead coral fragments), in shallow pools, in protected areas, intertidal to 15 m deep.

Note: The alga is used in folk medicine.

Tropical and subtropical waters of Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans.