Abstract: The simulation of strand like primitives modeled as dynamics of serial branched multi-body chain, albeit a potential reduced coordinate formulation, gives rise to stiff and highly non-linear differential equations. We introduce a recursive, linear time and fully implicit method to solve the stiff dynamical problem arising from such a multi-body system. We augment the merits of the proposed scheme by means of analytical constraints and an elaborate collision response model. We finally discuss a versatile simulation system based on the strand primitive for character dynamics and visual effects. We demonstrate dynamics of ears, braid, long/curly hair and foliage.