-Largest of the algae, usually more complex (no unicellular or colonial types).
-Brown pigment: fucoxanthin
-Important food crop, especially Laminaria, kelp sold as "kombu"
-Brown algae produce alginic acid (hydrophilic; absorbs lots of water), commercially used as an emulsifier
Lab Examples:
-Chondrus crispus
-Corraline:
-Fucus: commonly known as rockweed, outer surface covered in a gelatinous sheath to suit to its environment of pounding ocean waves. Has a blade that resembles a plant leaf, a stipe that resembles a stem, and a holdfast that resembles a root. Has reproductive structures called conceptacles that contain oogonia (female) and antheridia (male) reproductive cells.
-Laminaria (kelp):
Macrocystis:
Nereocystis:
Sargassum:
Phylum Rhodophyta (Red Algae):
-Red pigment from phycobilins in their plastids
-Thallus of a red alga can be attached, free floating, filamentous, or parenchymatous (fleshy)
-Common red alga extract: agar, extracted from seaweeds such as Gracilaria.
Lab Examples:
-Agardhiella:
-Gracilaria:
-Polysiphonia:
Porphyra:
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