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D E L E S S E R IA H il liæ .
M iss H ill’s Delesseria.
C la s s a n d O u d e r CRYPTOGAMIA ALGÆ, Linn—N a t . O r d . ALGÆ, Juss.
De Cand.
G EN ERIC CHARACTER.
Frons membranacea, stipitata vel acaulis, foliácea vel laminosa, rarissime flvfor-
mis. Fructus duplex : capsulx et sori sporidiis ternis.—A g .
Frond membranaceous, stalked or sessile, either simply expanded or folia-
ceous, very rarely filiform. Fructification double: capsules and clusters
of ternate sporidia.
S P E C IF IC CHARACTER.
D e l e s s e r i -e Hilliae; fronde membranacea ad basin breviter venosa, in ambitu
vage fissa, segmentis latis, incequalibtis, erosis, soris totamfrondem occupanti-
bus, confertis, punctiformibus.
D . frond membranaceous, with short veins at the base, irregularly cleft into
broad, unequal, erose segments, sori dispersed over the whole frond,
very numerous, punctiform.
H a b . In the se a; October. Plymouth, Miss H i l l . At Torquay, Mrs
G r i f f i t h s .
Root minutely scutate. Frond either sessile or supported on a cylindrical
stipes 1-3 lines in length, of a roundish outline, 5-8 inches in diameter,
furnished with a few short, radiating, obscure veins at the very base,
cleft around the circumference (to the middle or even deeper), into segments
an inch or more in breadth, slightly undulate at the margin, more
or less erose, and sometimes shortly subdivided at their extremity. The
substance is delicate, b u t much softer and thicker than D. punctata,
D. ocellata, and D. Bonnemaisoni, resembling, when handled in the fresh
state, according to Miss H i l l and Mrs G r i f f i t h s , exceedingly fine kid
le ather; the texture, however, is finely reticulated, b u t rather more
closely than in D. punctata. Capsules the size of turnip-seed, hemispherical,
and sharply umbonate, scattered over every p a rt of the frond, and
containing a mass of red oval or ovate sporidia. Sori punctifonri, on
separate plants, very numerous, occupying every part of the frond, and
composed of ternate sporidia.
351