F U C U S discors.
Discordant Fucus.
CRYPTOGAMIA Algae.
Gen. C h a r . Seeds produced in clustered tubercles,
which burst at their summits.
S p e c . C h a r . Frond round, branched; the branches
alternately pinnate, winged and serrated; upper
ones almost capillary. Tubercles crowded, in the
ultimate oblong segments.
Syn. Fucus discors. Linn. Sysl. Nat. ed. 12. v. 2.
717. Stachh. Ner. 1 0 8 . t. 17. Turn. Syn. 70.
M r . STACKHOUSE is recorded by Mr. Turner as the first
finder of this Fucus on the British coasts.—It agrees with the
two authentic and indubitable, though imperfect, specimens in
the Linnaean herbarium, by which alone, with our worthy
friend’s permission, w'e ascertain this supposed species. We
say supposed for the following reasons.
Mrs. Griffiths, to whom the submarine botany of England
is so much indebted, assures us, from her repeated observations
on the Devonshire coast, that the present is nothing more than
F. abrotanifolius, as it appears in the early part of the summer,
in places scarcely ever left exposed by the tide, except perhaps
at the equinoxes. In this we find the segments of the leaflets
much broader, with consequently a more conspicuous rib; the
prickles on the main stalks larger and more abundant; the
pods, or seed-bearing points, large and turgid, not always
attended by hollow air-bladders.
When ripe, the seeds, as the abovementioned lady informs
us, “ escape from their pores, and surround the pods in a
transparent mucus. In all the plants found late in autumn or
in winter, as well as those from shallow pools at all seasons,
the leaves or branches are more slender, and the parts of fructification
smaller, but the resemblance in every other respect
(betwixt this and t. 2130) is perfect. In winter, when the
seeds are scattered, the decaying parts fall off, but the branches
often continue to lengthen, and makevigorous shoots. Soon
after, the fruit begins to appear, and the seeds are in a progressive
state till the summer following. Some plants seem to
have stood the storms of many winters.”