There is a peculiar rigidity and wiryness in the frond of this
plant, which at once distinguishes it from any other British
Alga with which it can be confounded: and, when dry, the
glossy sm-face is equally striking. It often occurs in large
bundles, very much tangled together, and then looks like a mass
of rigid dark-purple bristles.
I have never seen fruit perfectly ripe on any specimens that
I have examined. The wart-like receptacles of fruit are common
enough, but they seem to come to perfection but seldom. This
is very different from the habit of G. Griffitlisim, in whose gongri
tetraspores are always found, and are some of the most beautiful
of marine microscopic objects.
G. plicatus, in its geographical distribution, is almost a
cosmopolite.
Fie
l i b ;
1. G y m n o g o n g r u s p l i c a t u s ;— the natural size. 3. Magnified portion
of a branch, bearing tubercles. 3. Transverse section of branch and
tubercle. 4. A small segment of the same :— more /