Mostly dichotomous, but occasionally wildly erratic, with alternating above, dichotomous below, and dichotomous at the tips of branches. Often unevenly forked, with one side longer than the other, apices are tapered and pointed. Axes flattened or compressed, showing more slender segments when compared to axes having spinous branchlets on their short laterals. 12–15 cm tall, 1 mm diameter thallus with finely branching, randomly branched clusters. The plant can have a variety of colors in the wild, from dark green to reddish-brown. Many times, cultured plants are extremely dark green, almost black.