î
placed opposite to the ciliæ, are ovate, supported on a short stalk, and contain
a tuft of peai'-shaped spores ; they are formed h c llli t l UI.LIL UX J ^ — ------------ ---f--r--o--m metamorJp. hosed
branches, not from ciliæ ; a fact proved by their position being the same as
that of normal branches, and Ulustrated by specimens gathered hq Mrs.
Wyatt, in which they are partly converted into ramuliferous branchlets.
Colour, a fine, pellncid crimson) Substance soft, flaccid, and adhering to
paper in di-ying. Var. differs from the common form in being cylindi-ical,
with ramuli twice as long as usual.
A higUy beautiful species, and so unlike any other British
Alga that it must be recognized at a glance. The delicate ciliæ
which border every part of the frond, and which are arranged
with strict regularity, being always perfectly distichous, and
placed alternate to each other, and opposite either to a capsule
or to a branch, taken in connection with the cellular frond and
brilliant colour, afford marks that cannot be rnistaken.
Bonnemaisonia asparagoides was discovered by Mr. Wigg,
whose name is so often mentioned in connection with our rarer
Algæ, and &st described by Mr. Woodward, in the second volume
of the ‘ Linnæan Transactions’. It has since been found on many
of the European shores, but not yet, that I am aware of, out of
Europe.
The pear-shaped spores which the capsules contain, are said,
by authors, to be compound, that is, composed of several separate
sporules, like those of Fucus serratus, or Cutteria multifida. This
character, though I have repeatedly looked for, I have never been
able to observe ; to me they appear to be filled with a homogeneous,
granular matter, in all respects similar to what occurs
in the other Chondrieæ. Tetraspores have not yet been found
on this Alga ; to judge by analogy, they ought to exist, if formed
at all, in the ciliæ, and in specimens where capsules were wholly
suppressed. Capsules are abundantly produced, and on the very
numerous specimens which have come under my notice, though
they have varied greatly in number upon each, I never saw any
specimen from which they were wholly absent.
F ig . 1 . B o n n em a is o n ia a s pa k a g o id e s ;
showing capsules in different stages of growth. 3.
branch. 4. A capsule. 5. Spores:— all more or
2. Apex of a branch
Transverse section of a