( 4.4 )
O r d e r V .— C H O R D A R I E ^ .
Plants all marine, o f an olive-green colour, becoming darker on
exposure to the a ir; o f a cartilaginous and luh'icous substance.
Root scutate. Frond continmus, cylindrical, jilifmm,
composed o f a solid cellular centre, and a dense exterior mass
o f concentrical filaments. Fructification imperfectly known.
Ge n u s X II. CHORDARIA, Ag. Tab. VII.
Ge n . Ch a r . Frond filiform, cartilaginous, solid, continuous,
composed exteriorly of a stratum of concentrical filaments.
This genus as at present constituted by Agardh, contains five species,
hardly any two of which really agree in structure. In the absence
of fresh specimens, I can do no more than observe that C. divaricata
will probably form the type of a new genus. C. fiagellformis
is the type of the present one, and the only British species. The
singular structure of this plant removes it from all the other orders.
Even with Chorda Filum it has nothing in common but its olivaceous
hue and filiform habit. Chorda Filum is fistular, of a lax cellular
texture : C. flagelliformis solid in its centre, very firm, and its diameter
partly composed of concentrical filaments, to which the pear-shaped
seeds of Chorda Filum bear no real analogy, as the one are co-existent
with every state of the plant, the other only in the season of fructification.
The generic name is derived from the Latin word, signifying
a cord or string.
1. C h o r d a r ia f l a g e l l if o r m i s . Tab. VII.
Frond nearly equal throughout, more or less branched, branches
long, nearly simple, and somewhajt distichous, those at the base horizontal.
Uhordaria.] C H O R D A R I E ^ . 45
Chordaria flagelliformis, Ag . L y n g b . H y d r o p h . D a n . p . 5 1 . 1 . 13. Ag. S p . A lg . v . 1. p . 166.
S y s t. A lg . p . 256. G r e v . F I . E d in . p . 288. S p r e n g . S p . P l. v . 4. p . 330.
Gigartina flagelliformis, L am o u r . E s s a i, p . 48.
Fucus flagelliformis, F I. D a n . t . 650. T u r n . S y n . F u c . p . 335. H i s t . F u c . t . 85. S m .
E n g . B o t. t . 1222.
F w c u i longissimus, S ta c k h . N e r . B r i t . p . 9 9 . 1 . 16., a c c o rd in g t o A g a rd h .
H a b . In the sea, attached to rocks and stones. Annual. Summer.
Shores of Anglesea, Rev* H* Davies, Devonshire, Mrs Griffiths,
Dawlish, Mr Pigott. Abundant on the rocks at Cromer and Sheringham,
Turner. Falmouth, Messrs Turner and Sowerby. Near Belfast,
Mr Templeton. Coasts of Scotland, Lightfoot. Mr Brodie.
Orkney, Rev. C. Clauston. Abundant in the Frith of Forth.
Root a very small disk. Frond six inches to near three feet in
length, not thicker than very fine twine, furnished with a stem which
divides at a certain point abruptly into branches: branches more or
less numerous, commencing near the root, arranged in a subdistichous
manner, varying in length from two to many inches, those at the base
horizontal, the uppermost ones erect, generally simple, or at most once
or twice forked, truncate at the extremity. Every part, the stem as
well as the branches, is uniform in appearance, and nearly so in thickness,
and is composed inwardly of a rather dense cellular tissue, outwardly
of a mass of concentrical club-shaped filaments ; and, if viewed
while growing, is covered with a short fringe of very fine white filaments.
Fructification, according to Turner, oblong or somewhat pyriform
seeds lying among the concentrical filaments. Substance firm,
cartilaginous, and slimy to the touch, adhering to paper. Colour very
dark olive-green, black when dry.
This is known in some parts of the country by the name of Whipcord
Fucus, I have referred to Stackhouse on the authority of Agardh,
as it unfortunately happens that the only copy of the Nereis Britannica,
to which I have access, does not extend farther than the twelfth plate.
:: Mill