P l a t e CCLXXXV.
CHORDA LOMENTARIA, L y n g i .
Gen. Ch a r . Raot scutate. Frond simple, cylindrical, tu b u la r ; its cavity
divided by transverse membranous septa, into separate chambers.
Fructijication, a stratum of obconical spores much attenuated at the
base, covering th e whole external surface of the frond. Among these
are found elliptical antheridia. C horda (Stack.),—a cord.
Chorda lomentaria; frond membranaceous, constricted at distant intervals,
the interstices inflated.
Chorda lomentaria, lyyigb. Hyd. Ban. p. 74. 1 .18. Grev. Alg. Brit. p. 48.
Hook. Brit. FI. vol. ii. p. 276. Harv. in Mack. FI. Hib. p a rt 3. p. 174.
Harv. Man. p. 36. ed, 2. p. 32. Wyatt, Alg. Banm. no. 6. E. Bot. Suppl.
t. 2902. J. Ag. Alg. Medit. p. 45.
Chorda fistulosa, Zanard. Syn. Alg. Adr. p. 87.
ScTTOSlPHON lomentaria, Endl. 3rd Suppl. p. 25. J. Ag. Spec. Alg. vol, i.
p. 126.
SCYTOSIPHON filum, var. y, Ag. Spec. Alg. vol. i. p. 162. Ag. Syst. p. 257.
SoLENiA fuscata, Bory, Morée, no. 1485.
Asperococcus castaneus, Carm. Hook. Br. FI. v o l.ii. p. 277.
Chlorosiphon Shuttlewortliianus, Kiite. Fhyc. Gen. p. 301.
H a b . On rooks, stones, and the smaller Algæ, in tide-pools. Annual.
Summer and autumn. Abundant on the shores of the B ritish Islands.
Geogr. D is t r , Atlantic shores of Europe from Norway to Spain. Mediterranean
Sea. Shores of North and South America. Japan, Southern and Antarctic
Oceans.
D esc r . Root a minute, naked disc. Fronds from eight to twelve or eighteen
inches in length, tapering at the base to the diameter of horse-hair, attenuated
upwards, either to a bluntish or a yery fine point, from two to
four lines in diameter at the greatest breadth, cylindrical, constricted at
irregular intervals and furnished with a transverse septum at each constriction.
The walls of the tube are composed of a thick layer of large, polygonal
cells, of which the outer ones are gradually smaller ; on the outside of
which, forming the periphery, is a stratum of radiating, close-packed, moniliform
filaments. These are only found in their full development in mature
specimens. Colour a brownish or greenish olive. Substance membranaceous
and soft, adhering closely to paper in drying.
A common plant, of little beauty, widely dispersed through
the temperate oceans of both hemispheres. In a young state
no septa are visible externally, the frond being filiform. In this
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