Abstract
In Gelidiella acerosa (Forsskal) Feldmann et Hamel a count of 8 chromosomes has been obtained in the vegetative cells of the thallus and a reduced number of four has been observed in the prophase of the second meiotic division of the tetrasporangium. Moreover, the characteristic “diffuse stage” or “growth stage” of the nucleus observed by many workers in all tetrasporangia undergoing normal meiosis has also been met with in this alga. It can therefore be stated that the tetrasporangium undergoes normal meiosis. The tetrasporophyte is thus a diploid phase of the plant, while the spores produced by it are haploid. Hence, there is a clear indirect evidence of the existence of the haploid sexual phase, which is the currently missing phase.
