DISTRIBUTION AND SYSTEMATICS OF BATRACHOSPERMUM (BATRACHOSPERMALES, RHODOPHYTA) IN NORTH-AMERICA .3. SECTION SETACEA

Six populations of Batrachospermum section Setacea from North America were compared to eight type specimens using multivariate morphometrics and image analysis. From this analysis, four species in this section were distinguished worldwide: B. atrum (Hudson) Harvey [syn. B. gallae i Sirodot, B. orthostichum Skuja, B. sertularina (Bory) Bory] B. diaty ches Entwisle; B. androinvolucrum sp. nov.; and B. puiggarianum Grunow in Wittrock et Nordstedt (syn. B. angolense Welwitsch ex West et West , B. nigrescens Welwitsch ex West et West). Two of these species were found in North America: B. atrum in California and Texas and B. androi nvolucrum in British Columbia, Washington State, and Alabama. The new species, B. androinvolucrum, is distinguished by having spermatangia r estricted to one-celled involucral bracts of the carpogonial branch.