F i a H n :
P la t e IV.
ECTOCARPUS BRACHIATUS, Haw.
Gen. Char. MlamenU capillary, jointed, olive or brown, flaccid, single
tubed. Fruit-, either spherical, eUiptical, or lanceolate capsules borne
on the ramuli, or imbedded in their substance.
E otocarpus Iracliatus-, fro n d finely tufted, feathery, much branched; the
branches free, opposite or quaternate; ramuli opposite, spreading; capsules
imbedded in the branches, forming oblong swellings situated on
the lesser branches or in the axils of two opposite ramuli.
E otoca rpus bracliiatus, Harv. in Hook. Br. PI. vol. ii. p. 326. Man. p. 42.
Wyatt, Alg. Damn. no. 174.
E otoca rpus crueiatus, Ag. Sp. Alg. vol. iii. p. 44. Endl. 3rd Suppl. p. 21
Co n fe rv a brachiata, Eng. Bot. t. 2571.
H ab. Rare. A t Cley, on the coast of Norfolk, in ditches of brackish water,
among Enteromorpha compressa, 1808, Sir TF. J. Hooker-, in the
sea, growing on Bhodomenia palmata, at Torquay, Mrs. Griffiths
YoughaU, Ju ly 1837, Miss B all. Lambray, 1838, Mr. W. Thompson.
G e o g r . D i s t r . Only known on the coast of England, and east and south of Ireland.
D e s c . Prond 2-4 inches high, finely tufted, wavy and feathery; the main stems
slightly entangled, excessively branched, all the branches and branchlets
opposite or quaternate; the lesser branches generally naked below, but fui--
nished in theh upper half with one or two pair of opposite spreading
ramnh, which are in like manner furnished with similar smaller ones. Capsules
immersed in the joints of the branches, often containing a double or
bipartite mass, usuafly situate at the nodes of the branchlets. Coloiu- a
pale olive green.
There is some confusion in the history of this plant, which is
one reason why I give it an early figure in this work. In the
year 1801, Mr. Dawson Turner, and in 1808, Sir W. J. Hooker,
found m ditches of brackish water by the sea side on the Norfolk
coast a plant of which a figure and description appeared in the
English Botany under the name of Conferva brachiata. That
figure evidently represents a species of Ectocarpus, having opposite
branches and immersed fruit. The Norfolk plant has not been
found of late years, and no specimen now exists in Sir W. J
Hooker’s Herbarium. The English Botany plate consequently remained
for many years the only record of the species, until Mrs.