r i e le c u x n .
P l a t e CXXXII.
ECTOCARPUS MERTENSII, Ay.
G e n . Chak. Frond c apillary, jo in te d , olive or b rown, flaccid, sin g le -tu b ed .
E m it e ith e r spherical, elliptical, o r lanceolate utricles (or spores),
b o rn e o n th e ram u li, or im b ed d ed in th e ir su bstance. E ctocakpus
(Lyngb) ,—from ektos, external, a n d sapmbs, f r u i t .
E ctocaepus Mertensii-, distichous; branches opposite, of unequal length,
linear, mostly undivided, closely set, tlu-oughout their whole extent
with slender, subulate, opposite ramuli; joints of the stem longitudinally
striate, transparent, with a central coloured band, rather shorter
than their breadth; spores binate, imbedded in the ramuli.
E ctoc.aepus Mei'tensii, Ag. Sp. Alg. vol. ii. p. 47. Hook. Br. El. vol. ii.
p. 337. Wyatt, Alg. B a m . no. 130, Harv. Man. p. 43. Endl. ir d
Suppl. p. 31.
CoNPBKVA Mertensii, E .B o t. t. 999. Billtc. Conf. Suppl. p. 79.
H a b . On mud covered rooks and stones, near low-water mark and at a
greater depth. Annual. April and May. Rare; but pretty generally
distributed. Yarmoutli, Mr. Wigg. Coast of Durham, Mr. W.
Ba'clchouse. Torbay, Mrs. Oriffiths. Salcombe, very flue, Mrs.
. Wyatt. ^\AmovLt\\, Miss Cutler. Marazion and Hfracombe, I f r .
Mount Edgecumbe, Plymouth, Rev. W. S. Ilo re and M r. Rohloff.
Bantry Bay, Miss Hutchins. Dredged in Strangford Lough, M r.
W. Thompson. Howth, B r . Coulter. Cove of Cork and Malahide,
W. H . H . Carrickfergus and Roundstone Bay, M r. Me’ Calla.
Orkney, Rev. J . H . Rolleafen.
G e o o e . D i s t k . Britisli Islands. Atlantic shores of France.
D e s c k . Eronds densely tufted, hut not in the least matted together. Stems from
two to six, or more rarely tw.elve inches in length, nearly or enthely simple,
closely furnished from the base to the apex with distichous, opposite, erecto-
patent, lateral branches, which are of very unequal length, long and short
being indiscriminately mixed together. These primary branches are, iu
large specimens, furnished with a second or thii-d series, also very unequal
in length, but none of them long, so that the general outline of the main branch
is narrow. Both primary and secondary branches are pectinated, at every
joint, with a pair of opposite, subulate, patent ramuli, which in young
specimens terminate in a long, hair-like acuminatiou, that drops off at a
later period of growth. Joints of the stem rather shorter than broad, with
a central bau d ; those of the ramuli very many times shorter than broad,
each formed of several cellules. Spores immersed in the subulate ramuli
about the centre, growing in pairs, separated by a transparent line, each
spore of a half ellipsoid shape, dark olive. Colour, when young, a clear
brown olive, becoming foxy when old, and acquiring a greenish shade, if
dried after some steeping in fresh water. Substance flaccid. The plant
closely adheres to paper.