2872.
ECTOCARPUS pusillus.
Dwarf Ecto carpus.
CRYPTOGAMIA Alga.
Ge n . Char. Stem capillary, generally much branched,
flaccid, jointed, bearing dark capsules.
Spec. Char. Filaments sub-simple, or sparingly
branched, interwoven. Branches bearing a few
short, flexuous fibres. Capsules sessile, roundish
oblong, plentiful, often two or three together.
Haro.
Syn. Ectocarpus pusillus. Harv. Brit. Alg. 41.
Wyatt Alg. Damn. No. 303.
F o r m in g little, flexuous, intricate, pale olive, woolly
tufts on Polysiphonia nigrescens, Enteromorpha compressa
and other Algae. Filaments slightly branched, attenuated
upwards, with a few more or less alternate, mostly simple
ramuli, or “ connected with each other by tendril-like divaricating
fibres.” Joints mostly twice as long as broad;
but sometimes they are longer, and sometimes very much
shorter. Capsules dark, abundant, of a broad oval form,
flattened at their tips, with a pellucid border, generally alternate,
but sometimes opposite or even whorled; they are
occasionally borne on a short branch, consisting of one or
more joints. Found at Torquay, by Mrs. Griffiths, and at
the Landes End by J. Ralfs, Esq., who kindly communicated
specimens.—M. J. B.