m / e c c m v .
' m
f,', i
Ser. R h o d o s p e r m eæ . Fam. Belesserieoe.
P la t e C C X X X V .
NITOPHYLLUM GMELINI, Grev.
I
m
Gbn. C h a r . Frond membranaceous, reticulated, rose-red (rarely purplish),
irregularly cleft, veinless, or furnished with irregular veins towards
th e base. Fructification two-fold, on distinct p lan ts; ] , convex
tubercles {coccidia) immersed in the frond, and containing a mass of
spores; 3, tetraspores, grouped into definite sori or spots, variously
scattered over th e frond. N it o p h y l l u m {Grev.),— corruptly formed
from nitor, to shine, and tpvWov, a leaf.
N i t o p h y l l u m Gmelini; frond short-stalked, fan-shaped, with a roundish
outline, variously cleft into broadly wedge-shaped segments, waved,
curled, rather rigid, marked near the base (and sometimes over the
surface) with vague, vanisliing nerves ; spots of tetraspores linear,
confined to the margin.
N it o ph y l lu m Graelini, Grev. Alg. Brit. p. 82. Hook. M. Brit. vol. ii. p. 288.
F. Bot. Suppl. t. 2779. Wyatt, Alg. Banm. no. 65. Harv. in Mack. Fl.
Hih. part 3. p. 193. Harv. Man. p. 58.
A g l a io ph y l l um Gmelini, Mont. Fndl. 3rd Suppl. p. 52. Kiitz. Phyc. Gen.
p. 443. Fndl. 3rd Suppl. p. 52.
D e l e s s e r i a Gmelini, Lamour. Fss. p . 36.
H a b . On rooks, and the larger Algæ, near low-water mark, and at a
greater depth. Annual. Summer. South of England ; particularly
large and abundant near Plymouth. North and west of Ireland.
Howth, Miss Gower. Jersey, Miss White and Miss Turner.
G e o g k . D is t r . Atlantic coasts of France and Spain.
D e s o r . Boot a small, conical disc. Stem from a quarter to half an inch in length,
cylindrioal and cartilaginous below, soon beooming compressed, and then
expanding into the wedge-shaped base of the frond. Frond two to six
inches in length, and as much or more in breadth, flabelliform, with a
roundish outline, either nearly entire, with the margin cut into shallow
lobes, or deeply cleft into numerous broad segments, which are either
jagged or subdivided in a dichotomous manner; and sometimes cut into
narrow ribbons. Segments cuneate at base, widening upwards, their apices
rounded, or angularly cut. The margin is generaUy much undulated. From
the base of the frond there issue numerous branching veins, which ramify
over the surface, and gradually become fainter upwards ; these in some
specimens are faint, and soon lost, and in others are strongly marked and
evident, even in the upper segments. Tubercles either confined to the margin,
or scattered over the disc of the upper lobes, hemispherical, depressed,
containing a large tuft of dark-red spores. Tetraspores disposed iu linear
sori, always placed just within the margin of the frond, and following its
curvature. Colour a full deep-lake, becoming a bright pink in diying.
Substance crisp, and somewhat rigid, crackling in the fingers ; becoming
flaccid in fresli-water. Cells of the surface large, irregularly hexagonal.
VOL. I I . 2 F
WH.H. dMrt l i a .