M a t e
W .H .H . E e l et H f k .
P l a t e CLXXVIII.
SPHACELARIA CIRRHOSA, Ag.
G e n . Ch a e . Mlaments jointed, rigid, disticliously branched, pinnated;
rarely simple or subdichotomous. Apices of the branches distended,
membranous, containing a dark, granular mass. Fructification-,
elliptical utricles (or spores), borne on the ramnli. S ph a ce la eia
(Ly n g h ), from o-cfiaKeXos, gangrene, alluding to the withered tips of
the branches.
S ph a ce la eia cirrhosa-, parasitical; filaments naked at the base, short,
densely tufted, simple or branched, jointed throughout; stem, or
branches, pinnate ; pinnæ opposite, alternate, or irregular, of unequal
length ; utricles sessile or shortly stalked, scattered, globose.
Sp iia c ela b ia cirrhosa, Ag. Syst. Alg. p. 164. Ag. Sp. vol. ii. p. 37. Sarv .
in Hook. Br. M. vol. ii. p. 324. Wyatt, Alg. Bantu, no. 171. Harv. in
Mack. M. Hih. part 3. p. 180. Harv. Man. p. 38. J. Ag. Alg. Medit.
p. 29.' Endl. 3rd Suppl. p. 24. Grev. Crypt, t. 341. Kg.Bhyc. Gen.-p.292.
Sp iiac elabia pennata, Lyngh. p. 105. t. 31. (excl. var. /3.)
Ceramium cirrliosum. Hook. FI. Scot. part 2. p. 86.
Conferva marina perbrevis viUosa et cirrhosa, Bill. Muse. t. 4. f. 21.
Conferva cirrhosa, Roth. Cat. vol. ii. p. 214. vol. iii. p. 294.
Conferva intertexta, Roth. Cat. vol. i. p. 188. t. 3. f. 5.
Conferva pennata, Huds. p. 604. Billw. t. 86. F. Bot. t. 2330 (right-
hand figure). M. Ban. t. 1486. f. 2.
H ab. Parasitic on the smaller Algæ, between tide marks. Perenmal ?
Summer. Very common.
Geogr.. D is t r . Abundant on the Atlantic and Mediterranean shores of Europe.
De sc r . Filaments from a quarter of an inch to one or two inches in length,
slender, forming globose, dense tufts, very variable in the amount of ramification.
Some of the smaller varieties are hut slightly branched, the
branches irregularly pinnate. In others the main filament is repeatedly
divided, the branches closely set, spreading, short in the lower part of the
frond, elongated above, once or twice pinnate. Pinnæ closely set, opposite
or alternate, erect or spreading, mostly simple and naked, sometimes pinnulated,
very irregular in length, hut gi’adually becoming shorter to the ,
tips, slightly tapering. Yy/ices frequently sphacelate. ■ Joints visible in aU
parts of the stem and branches, at distances asunder equal to about the
diameter of the frond, longitudinally striate. Utricles globose, scattered
along the pinnæ, either sessile or raised on short stalks. Colour olive ;
becoming a foxy brown in age. Siéstance rigid, not adhering to paper in
drying.
Here we have a very common and very variable plant, which
puts on several distinct looking forms, according to the locality
'7 ;
i f A
li
i- foi'
ftîi