What plant is agar weed? A complete guide in one article

I wonder if you have heard of agar weed. Today, the editor will introduce to you what plant agar weed is.

Agar weed is an alga of the family Gelidiaceae, genus Gelidium. The algal body is purplish red or brownish red, flat and upright, growing in clusters with feathery branches; the branchlets are opposite or alternate, and the tip of each branch is sharply pointed, generally 10-30 cm tall. It is uniaxial. There are many rhizine-like filaments between the cortical cells. Tetrasporangia are formed from terminal branches and divide in a cruciate manner. Spermatangia and carpogonia are also formed from terminal branches; the cystocarps protrude on both sides, each with a small pore. Carposporangia are long club-shaped. It is a common species in the Yellow Sea, Bohai Sea, and East China Sea of China. It is used as food and is also the main raw material for extracting agar.

Original form of agar weed, Eucheuma: the algal body is purplish red, cartilaginous, thick and fleshy, 12-30 cm long, cylindrical, 2-3 mm in diameter, with irregular branching. The axillary angles are wide open, extending nearly horizontally, alternate, opposite, secund, or several times fork-branched, with tapering pointed tips, and warty protuberances on both sides or around the margins. The protuberances are dense on the upper part of the branches and sparse on the lower part. There are algal filaments in the center of the medulla. Tetrasporangia are gathered together. Band-shaped division. The cystocarps protrude from the body surface and are hemispherical. The holdfast is discoid.