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FU C U S vE ^ icü L o su s, v a r . l a t e r i f r u c t u s .
Bladder Fucus,— lateral-fruited variety.
C l a s s a n d O e d e b CRYPTOGAMIA ALGiE, Linn— N a t . O e d . ALGJE, Juss.
GENERIC CHARACTER.
Beceptacula tuberculata ; tuberculis pertusis, includentibus gkmerulos fihrarum
capsulorumque masses mucosas Jibrosas immersos.—A g . Radix)¿ scutata.
Frons Jtliformis aut plana. Color olivácea.
Receptacles tu b e rcu la ted ; tubercles with a pore, containing clusters of
fibres and capsules immersed in a mucose-fibrous mass.—Root scutate.
Frond filiform or plane. Colour olivaceous.
SPECIFIC c h a r a c t e r .
Fo cu s vesiculosus; /rowde plana, costata, lineari, dichotoma, integerrima, ve-
siculis sphcericisfrondi innatis geminis, receptaculis terminalibus ellipticis.—
Ag.
F. frond plane, ribbed, linear, dichotomous, entire, with innate spherical
vesicles in p a ir s ; receptacles terminal, elliptical.
Fu cu s vesiculosus, Linn. Sp. FI. p. I 626.—Smith, Lng. Bot. t. IO66.—Turn.
Hist. Fuc. t. 8S.— Ag. Syst. Alg. p. 175. &c. &c.
var. laterifructus, fronds segmentis lateralibus angustioribus multijidis fru c -
tferis.
var. frond with the fructification produced on narrower, multifid, lateral
segments.
H ab. In the sea. The present variety occurs in the Island of Bute in the
greatest abundance. Spring and summer.
D e s c r i p t o n of var. laterifructus.— Root an expanded callous disk. Frond
one to four feet in length, coriaceous, flat, linear, dichotomous, from
four lines to an inch in breadth, furnished at irregular intervals with
immersed spherical or oval vesicles, in pairs, three or four pairs being
generally placed consecutively. The angles of th e dichotomies are
acute, except when a solitary vesicle, as is sometimes the case, is placed
in the angle, and renders it obtuse. The margin of the frond is entire,
the ramifications more numerous towards the extremity, the apex of
each division rounded. The fructification is produced on lateral segments,
which are narrower than the rest of the frond, several times dichotomous,
and terminated with the receptacles. Receptacles varying
from roundish to linear-lanceolate, studded with tubercular p o re s;
within filled with a mass of pellucid mucus, and a network of filaments,
in which the globular tubercles are immersed. Seeds yellowish, elliptical,
surrounded with a pellucid limb.