1
CHORDA FILUM. STRING FUCUS.
CHORDA Filum ; fronde terete simplicissima, utrinque attenuata, sencctutc spirali. Lyngb.
CHORDA Filum. Lyngbye Hydrophyt. Dan. p . 72. t. 18.
SCYTOSIPHON Filum. Agardh Sp. Alg. p. 161. Grev. Fl. Ed. p. 288.
CHORDARIA Filum. Agardh Syn. p. 14. Hook. Fl. Scot. P . II. p. 97.
FUCUS Filum. Linn. Sp. PL p. 1631. Huds. Angl. p. 587. L ig h tf Scot. p. 963. With. Bot.
Arr. ed. 4. ml. 4. p. 106. Fl. Dan. t. 821. Turner Syn. Fuc. ml. 2. p . 339. Hist. Fuc.
ml. 2. p. 39. t. 86. Smith Engl. Bot. t. 2487. Wahl. Fl. Lapp. p. 505.
Dut. Zeeolasch. Germ. Der Meerstrang.
Class a nd O rd e r . CRYPTOGAMIA ALGÆ.
[N atural . Ord er. ALGiE, Juss., Decatid., Hoo/c.]
Gen . Char. Frons teres, tubulosa, simplicissima. Semina nuda, in muco frondem ambiente nidulantia.—-Lyngb.
Gen. Char. Frond terete, tubular, quite simple. Seeds naked, nestling in a mucous substance surrounding the
frond.—Lyngb.
Radix, discus callus, parvus, dilatatus, saxis arete ad
hærens.
Frondes solitariæ vel plerumque aggregate, pedales
usque ad viginti pedes longte, simplices, teretes,
medium versus digiti minoris crassitie, basi
apieeque sensim attenuate valde anguste, superficies
læves, lubricæ, juniores, præcipue, villis
longiusculis articulatis instructs, demum omnino
glab'ræ ; in tus fistulosæ, nonnunquam isthmis intercepte,
articulis longitudine variantibus : Color
olivaceo-fuscus : Substantia subcartilaginea.
Fructificatjo in speciminibus vetustis crassis distortis
atque evidenter spiraliter tortis.
Capsulæ numerosissimæ, superficiem frondis obtegen-
tes, minutissimæ, ovate, pedicellate, membra-
naceoe, pulpa nigra replete. Aliæ capsulas vel
potius semina reperiuntur, ovate, sessiles, sparsas,
filis clavatis articulatis immixte.
Root a small, callous, spreading disk, closely adhering
to stones.
Fronds solitary, or generally clustered, from a foot
even to 20 feet long, simple, rounded, near the
middle having the thickness o f the little finger,
a t the base and extremity gradually attenuated
and very narrow, the surface smooth, lubricous,
the younger ones particularly, beset with longish
jointed hairs, at length altogether glabrous; within
fistulöse, sometimes furnished with transverse
dissepiments, whose joints vary in length : The
colour olivaceous-brown : The substance cartilaginous.
Fructification is found upon old thickened specimens
which are distorted-and spirally twisted.
Capsules very numerous, covering the surface of the
frond, very minute, ovate, pedicellate, membranaceous,
filled with a black pulp. Other capsules
or rather seeds are found, ovate, sessile,
scattered, mixed with clavatearticulatedfilaments.
Fig. 1 . Young frond. Fig. 2. Older frond. Fig. 3. Portion of an old and fertile frond (nat. size). Fig. 4.
Interior view of a young frond. Fig. 5. Hair from a young frond. Figs. 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. Portion of old and
fertile fronds. Fig. 11. Group of capsules. Fig. 12. The same (all more or less magnified). Fig. 13. The
second kind of fructification, discovered by Captain Carmichael.
Abundant on the rocky shores of the British Islands, but growing in the greatest perfection in the salt-water
•lochs (as they are called), or arms of the sea, in the Western Highlands and islands of Scotland. There, where
„ the water is of very considerable depth, on account of its exceeding purity this plant may be distinctly seen in
vast profusion, attaining to a length of more than twenty feet. The fronds are covered with slimy pellucid hairs,
which render them very unpleasant to the touch.
The first mention of what may be considered as the true fructification of this plant was made by Mr. Pigott,
who informed Mr. Turner, the author of the Historia Fucorum, that he had seen what he supposed to be the fructification
wash off from the fronds in myriads of minute brown grains. A very good figure of one kind of fruit is
given in English Botany, from specimens discovered by Mr. Borrer in the month of September. Agardh takes
no notice of the fructification. Lyngbye represents it, but not very satisfactorily. It was reserved for my acute
and excellent, friend Captain Carmichael to detect on the shores of Appin, in Argyleshire, two kinds of fructification
upon this plant, both of which are here delineated. But I shall give the account of the discovery in his
own words.