Rhodophyta

Abe V Rotor
Living with Nature - School on Blog

Lesson: Phycology. Do you like maki? It is wrapped with the most expensive seaweed - nori, Pophyra, gamet (Ilk). It belongs to Class Rhodophyta. Its members grow in the deepest part of the coral reef where the sun is least, as compared with the green and brown seaweeds found in relatively shallow zones. Here is an article in poetry to describe this group of plant-like thalli.

Rhodophyta, acrylic painting by AVR 2000

Rhodophyta - you have the magic of

• living at the dim of the ocean where the rays of the sun barely reach you, catching the remaining rays of blue with your red pigments - rhodophycin and xanthophyll;
  

• ramifying into forked dichotmy of stems and leaves resembling those of your cousins on land, yet botanists have demoted you to a lowly kingdom - Protista;
  

• living two separate lives, yet joined in one cycle that makes you whole, your chromosomes complete - sporophytic, at another only half - gametophytic;
  

• sleeping in extreme seasons, aestivating in the warm tropical water, and hibernating in the cold, until you are active again;
  

• hiding from hervibores from land and sea, from sudden gust and tide, finally from your greatest enemy - man the omnipotent omnivore. ~

Rhodophycin, xanthophyll - pigments of red algae and plants with red coloration. Orange has xanthophyll and carotene (yellow)
Protista - sub-kingdom, includes one-celled organisms, neither plant nor animal
sporophytic - phase with diploid (N2)chromosomes
gametophyte - phase with haploid (N1) chromosomes
aestivate - dormant in extreme summer; hibernate - dormant in harsh winter
omnivore - herbivore and carnivore combined; plant and animal eaters.

Living with Nature, AVRotor