ULVA rupestris.
B road R o ck L ave r.
CRYPTOGAMIA Algat.
Gen. Char. F ro n d membranous or gelatinous. Seeds
solitary, scattered throughout its substance, under
the cuticle.
Spec. Char. Frond leathery, depressed, yery wide,
indeterminate, smooth and slippery, dull red.
T h i s singular nondescript never came under my observation
but once, nor can I meet with any botanist who is. acquainted
with it. The plate represents a small fragment of the frond,
which was 2 or 3 feet wide, and spread like a piece of very
wet leather, of a jagged indeterminate outline, over the nearly
upright face of a rock, bathed with a perpetual trickling rill,
at some distance above Tyloge bridge in the “ new walk” in
Mn Johnes’s grounds at Hafod, Cardiganshire; as mentioned
in the Tour to Hafod, lately published, p. 13. It much resembled
in thickness and appearance, except in being of a
dull red or greenish-brown hue, a very wet skin of washed-
leather, but, was far less tenacious, being with difficulty stripped
entire from the rock, though it did not seem fixed by any
evident roots. It dried well and speedily, adhering slightly
to paper, and shrinking considerably in width. The surface is
Smooth on both sides. On being moistened now, at the distance
of 10 or 12 years, it recovers its original appearance,
and numerous granular dotted bodies are found under the cuticle
of the upper* surface, imbedded amongst the internal
fibres. It is surely generically and specifically akin to U. mon-
tana in the preceding plate, but we presume it cannot be a
mere variety caused by situation.