Family Description: Members of this family are simple, bifurcate, dichotomously branched, or proliferous blades or sacs. The medulla is composed of large, globose cells (no filaments). Reproduction is as described for the order.
Species description: Stiff Red Ribbon is similar to Red Ribbon (Palmaria mollis) but its tips are more rounded or mittenlike. It also grows somewhat higher in the intertidal than does Red Ribbon, and the blades of its male gametophytes and tetrasporophytes feel distinctly thicker, almost stiff. These blades can be dried and broken into small pieces, which will pop like popcorn in hot oil. The female gametophytes are microscopic, multicellular discs.
The specific name refers to Hecate Strait (which separates the Queen Charlotte Islands from the British Columbia mainland), source of the specimens used in the original description. However, this species is rare south of Alaska. It has been collected from only a few sites in British Columbia, Oregon, and northern California.
