Tweet this page Like this page Email this page Share this page Home» Resources » Identification » Identification of algae » Freshwater algae » How to identify algae » Identification guide » Filamentous » Filaments microscopic » Filaments are branched Filaments are branched (although branches may be rare), including false branching and filaments united at base on substrate 4. Please select the type of branching. Branches are "false" - e.g. starting at a heterocyte placed adjacent to another filament, or filaments are united at their bases; chloroplasts and other organelles inside cells are not found (although granules may exist) Branches are markedly unequal, e.g. whorls of small branches off wide central axis Branch points are bifurcations of roughly equal size