FUCUS flagelliformis.
Whip-cord Fucus.
CRYPTOGAMIA Algce.
Gen. Char. Seeds produced in clustered tubercles,
which burst at their summits.
Spec. Char. Frond thread-shaped, branched, slippery:
branches in two rows, mostly alternate, elongated,
simple or divided, naked, obtuse.
Syn. F ucus flagelliformis. FI. Dan. t.. 650. Light/. 928.
Turn. Syn. 335.
F r e q u e n t on the sea shores, though not clearly distinguished
from F. confervoides either by Hudson, Lightfoot,
Goodenough or Woodward. Our specimen was gathered at
Falmouth by Mr. Turner and Mr, Sowerby. We have the
same from Sir T. Frankland,
Root a minute tubercle, supposed to be annual. Fronds
cylindrical, slender, bearing numerous alternate obtuse
branches of their own figure, either simple or subdivided,
sometimes repeatedly branched, and greatly elongated, all
tapering at their base. The whole plant is slimy and slippery
to the touch, being, as Mr. Turner observes, covered with a
mucus, which in the water gives it a downy appearance. Its
colour is a dull brownish olive, not very deep. The fructification
is entirely unknown, so that Mr. Turner doubts whether
it may not prove an Ulva.
F. confervoides is distinguished by its numerous short setaceous
sharp branches, its purple colour, and hemisphaerical
lateral tubercles, which pretty constantly occur.
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