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E X IL A R IA FLABELLATA.
Fan-shaped Exilaria.
C l a s s a n d ObdEr CRYPTOGAMIA ALGiE, Linn.—S a t . O k d . ALGJE, J uss. Ag.
G E N E R IC C H A R A C T E R .
Corpuscula hyalina, rìgida, suhlinearia, modo flabelliformi disposila, basi vel ses-
silia vel ad receptaculum simplex aut ramosum affixa ; demum secedaitia.
Hyaline, rigid, sublinear corpuscula, arranged in a flabelliform manner,
sessile at their base, or fixed to a simple or branched receptacle, at length
deciduous.
S P E C I F IC C H A R A C T E R .
E x i l a r i a flabellata ; ramosa, elongata, ramis hyalinis alternis patentibus.
E. branched, elongated, the branches hyaline, alternate, spreading.
E c h i n e l l a flabellata, Carm. MSS.
H a b . On Zostera marina, and several small Algas, in spring. Appin, Captain
C a r m i c h a e l .
Plants investing the leaves of the Zostera for several inches together, of a
green colour, and when dry shining with a metallic lustre. Stem erect,
one-third of an inch in length or more, branched, flexuose, slender, pellucid,
colourless. Branches spreading, alternate, dilated at the extremities.
Every branch is terminated w ith a fan-shaped expansion, formed
of a number of linear, wedge-shaped, hyaline, rigid, yellow bodies.
The secondary branches end in smaller expansions, and still smaller ones
composed of 1-5 bodies, spring from the sides o f the stem and branches.
The bodies above described are either wholly of a yellow colour, or
partly coloured and partly pellucid ; and often when coloured marked
at equal distances with two rows o f oblong spots. They are very deciduous,
separating with the greatest facility from one another, and from
their attachment at the base.
ZdO
This superb species, discovered by Captain C a r m i c h a e l
on the west coast of Scotland, is undoubtedly the glory of its
genus, and in every point of view a beautiful object.
For a long time I have been uncertain about the generic
relations of Diatoma fasciculatum, A g. and D. crystallinum,
A g. (Echinella fasciculatum, L yngb.) I was willing with
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