inches long, pinnated ahout tlie middle for au inch or more, with au
irregular numher of flat nerveless leaflets, two to seven Indies in Icngtli,
filiform at their origin, then becoming linear wedge-shaped, or linear-
oblong, and varying in breadth from a few lines to even an inch in
their broadest part. From the summit of the stem commences the
frond, which is from three to twenty feet long or more, and four to
eight inches wide, the stem being continued in the form of a midrib to
the very extremity; the surface perforated with scattered pores, from
which issue minute tufts of filaments. Fruclif cation situated in the
thickened leaflets of the stem, in dense uniform masses, “ consisting
of small, naiTow, pyriform, pellucid seeds, internally dotted, having on
their largest extremity a white transparent globule,” Turner.
Substance thin and membranaceous, drying beautifully and transparently
without changing colour, adhering imperfectly to paper; the
midrib thick and firm. Colour pale transparent yellowish olive-green.
Tlie extremity of the full grown frond is never found entire, but
more or less tom by the violence of the waves. The lacerations always
occur in an oblique and parallel direction, from the margin to
the midrib, as if regulated hy a transverse venation, and indicating a
structure very different from that of the other midribhed L a m i n a -
hiejE, not even excepting Fucus costatus of Turner, which, as far
as I can judge from the figure, is worthy of being formed into the type
of a separate genus. In tbe young state, A. esculenta exhibits no
traces of the leaflets ; they are sometimes not developed until the frond
is two or three feet in length.
M. de La Pylaie found, on the coast of Newfoundland, a variety
with the frond so broad, that it reminded him of the leaves of the plan-
tain-tree. A second variety he observed on the shores of the same
country, no wider than a common ribband.
The midrib of this plant, when stripped of the membrane, and sometimes
also the leaflets, are eaten in Ireland, Scotland, Iceland, Denmark,
and the Faroe Islands. It is called in Scotland Badderlocks or
Hen-ware, and in the Orkney Islands Honey-ware. Dr Drummond
informs me, that in some parts of Ireland it hears the name of Murlins.
In Newfoundland, where the species abounds, no use is made of it.
27
G e n u s V lll. LAMINARIA, Lamour. Tal). V.
G e n . C h a u . PT-ond coriaceous (rarely membranaceous),
plane, 'expanded, without a midrib. Fructification, seeds
or granules fbrmiiig dense sori or spots, and imbedded
in the thickened surface of some part of the frond.—Fructification
has only been observed in L . bulbosa, digitata,
saccharina, and the exotic purpurascens.
The name of Laminarias (derived from the Latin word lamina, a
thin plate or substance), was first appropriated to this genus, but in an
indefinite manner, hy Roussel, in his Flore du Calvados. Lamouroux,
by a slight alteration, changed the natpe to Laminaria, and introduced
it with an amended character, into his system of Algce.
It has been universally adopted, with the exception of having undergone
some restriction. The fructification for the most part is involved
in the greatest obscurity. Some gigantic marine plants belong to this
genus. The L. buccinalis or Trumpet-weed, of the Cape of Good
Hope, has a large hollow stem, which the country people convert into
a kind of horn or trumpet. The L. potatorum of New Holland is of
such a size and firmness, that the natives manufacture vessels from the
frond, for the purpose of carrying Water.
By Linnæus and his followers, all the Laminaria; were considered
as Fuci.
* Frond cleft into segments.
1. L a m in a r ia d ig i t a t a .
Stem woody cylindrical compressed upwards, expanded at its apex
into a roundish flat cartilagino-coriaceous frond, entire at the margin,
and cleft into numerous ensiform segments.
Laminaria digitata, L am o u r . E s s a i, p . 22. L y n g b . H y d r o p h . D a n . p . 20. Ag. S p . A ig . v . ] ,
p . 112. S y s t. A lg . p . 270. G r e v . F I . E d in . p . 283. S p r e n g . S p . P I . v . 4: p . 326.
Fucus digitatus, L in n . S y s t. N a t . v . 2. p . 7 I 8. S t a c k h . N e r . B r i t . t. 3. T u r n . S y n . F u c .
p . 207. H is t. F u c . t. 162. S m . E n g . B o t. t. 2274.
H a b . In the sea, generally in deep water. Perennial. Very com-
Root composed of thick clasping fibres. Stem one to six feet in
height, half an inch to near two inches in diameter, solid, very tough,