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FUCUS obtusus.
Obtuse Fucus.
CRYPTOGAMIA Algae.
Gen. Char. Seeds produced in clustered tubercles,
which burst at their summits.
Spec. Char. Frond cartilaginous, thread-shaped, compressed,
twice or thrice pinnate; ultimate branches
nearly opposite, spreading, obovate, very obtuse,
bearing the seeds.
Syn. F ucus obtusus. Huds. 586. Gooden, and Woodw.
Tr. o f Linn. Soc. v. 3. 191. Turn. Syn. 43. With,
v. 4. 119. Hull. 324. Velley, t. 3.
F. spinosus. Wulf. inJacq. Coll. v. 3. 156. t. \ 5. f . 1.
W e have received specimens of this pretty and uncommon
Fucus from Ireland, by favour of Mr. Templeton of Orange
Grove near Belfast. Its delicate light red colour is said to be
very fugitive. The plant itself is annual, and not of long duration,
perfecting its seeds in summer. It has been observed on
the south and west coasts of England only.
Several stems, various in length and luxuriance, arise from
one small callous root, and are at most 6 inches high, being
twice or thrice compound, the branches opposite, rarely ter-
nate, their subdivisions pinnate; the ultimate ones generally
opposite, obovate or wedge-shaped, very blunt and abrupt,
pale and flat at their extremities. The substance of the whole
is firm, the stem and branches linear, or rather thread-shaped,
slightly flattened. The seeds are in clusters, forming a very
dark red spot in the centre of the dilated extremity of each of
the ultimate divisions or lobes of the frond.
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