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CystocarpsCystocarps are the combined structure of the haploid (1n) female gametophytic tissue, known as the pericarp, that surrounding the carposporophyte (2n), which is made up of carposporangia.
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Externally, they can appear like snails sitting on the surface of the plant, like on this red alga, Martensia australis. |
Sometimes they look like hemispherical lumps as in the red alga, Halichrysis coalescens.
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Many cystocarps have urceolate ostioles making them look like Greek urns.
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You can actually see the spore mass inside the cystocarp in this image of the red alga Dictothamnion saltatum.
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In a verticle section of a cystocarp, you can see the dark spores forming a tight ball attached to a fusion cell. This fusion cells is a bit like a human placenta. The surrounding, protective tissue is the pericarp and this tissue is the female gametophyte or ‘mother’.
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Or they can look like golf balls on a ‘T’ as in this red alga, Claudea elegans.
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