DR, Е. BÜRGESEN ON FUCUS SPIRALIS, LINNÉ. 105 
Fucus spiralis, Linné, or Fucus platycarpus, Thuret : A question of Nomen- 
clature. Ву F. BürGesex, Ph.D. (Communicated by the General 
Secretary.) 
(PLATE 9.) 
[Read 4th February, 1909.) 
Іт is indeed rather bewildering that so common a plant as Fucus spiralis, L, 
which occurs, for example, commonly along the whole west coast of Europe, 
is designated by most botanists under different names in different countries. 
Prof. Sauvageau has also pointed this out in his recent paper : “ Sur deux 
Fucus récoltés a Arcachon (Fucus platycarpus et F. lutarius) ? *, 
In this paper Prof. Sauvageau tries to make it clear that we must use the 
name Fucus platycarpus of Thuret for the plant in question, and not Fucus 
spiralis, L., as I have done in my work on the Marine Alg: of the Ётегбез 
(‘ Botany of the Fieróes," Part ii., Copenhagen, 1902, p.472). Prof. Sauvageau 
considers that we know nothing certain as to Fucus spiralis of Linné ; he 
especially tries to make it clear that the species of Linné includes different 
forms of Fucus vesiculosus, e. g. F. vesiculosus f. sphevocarpa, common in 
the northern seas, which Linné might have collected during his journey 
in Finmarken. 
Prof. Bauvageau writes, for instance, p. 16: “Puisque cette variété 
sphærocarpus du F. vesiculosus est si répandue et si abondante dans les 
mers boréales, il est presque évident, а priori, que Linné l'a récoltée durant 
son voyage en Laponie, presque évident aussi que, l'ayant récoltée, il l'a 
confondue avec son F. spiralis lequel, on ne doit l'oublier, est simplement 
caractérisé par les deux mots: ‘interne nudo et non par la nature sexuelle 
des réceptacles" And on page 23 we read: “ Je ne disconviens nullement que 
le Fucus hermaphrodite, corymbiforme et spiralé entrait dans la constitution 
du F. spiralis rencontré par Linné dans son voyage en Laponie, mais 
celui-ci renfermait certainement aussi les Fucus vesiculosus spiralés, le 
F. vesiculosus var. sphærocarpus et peut-être d'autres à base ‘inferne nudo 
des régions boréales." And page 25, repeating the same, Prof. Sauvageau 
even adds Pelvetia and Fucus inflatus. 
I have thought it right to reprint here my text of Fucus spiralis in 
* Botany of the Færöes, pp. 472-477, as perhaps not every reader of the 
present essay has my paper at hand. I would add, that until my paper 
appeared, this species not only figured under different names by most 
authors, as there mentioned, but its different forms were even considered as 
different species by the same author in the same work. Just to mention one 
* Société scientifique d'Arcachon. Station Biologique. XIème Année Bordeaux, 
1908. 
LINN. JOURN. 
BOTANY, VOL. XXXIX. 1 
