Phyllophora sicula
# Phyllophora sicula

Phyllophora sicula, the hand leaf bearer, is a small red marine alga.

## Description

This small red alga grows to a length of 20 mm (0.8 in), erect from a disc shaped holdfast. It has a short, erect, terete stipe which expands as a flattened blade branching once or twice. The blades have a cartilaginous texture with a medulla of large cells within a cortex of one or two layers of small cells.

## Reproduction

Gametangial plants are unknown. Tetrasporangial patches occur in the center of the blade.

## Habitat

It is found in rock pools of the lower littoral and in the sublittoral to depths of 12 m (39 ft).

## Distribution

It is generally recorded from the southwest of Great Britain, Ireland, Portugal, and elsewhere in the Mediterranean. The type locality is in Italy.

