146 Rhodora [Jury 
mens washed ashore at Newport, R. I. Z. stenophylla appears to be an 
annual, differing in this from all other digitate species of the coast of 
New England except Z. intermedia. It fruits in October and dis- 
appears soon after that. It never shows the rings in the cross-section 
of the stipe, which are so common in the older plants of Z. digitata. 
B. SiMPLiCES. While the digitate forms of the New England 
coast are easily to be distinguished from one another or by descrip- 
tions, and are also readily to be arranged under the species enumer- 
ated, it is quite otherwise with the members of the genus Laminaria 
with undivided blades. 'The numerous forms are neither readily 
recognized nor readily arranged, and all that can be done with them 
at present is to attempt some arrangement and leave them for future 
study. It has seemed best, for reasons given under each of the follow- 
ing species, to recognize three sets of plants belonging to this group. 
L. SACCHARINA (L.) Lam'x. There seems to be nothing to dis- 
tinguish this species from the next, except the occurrence of muci- 
lage ducts in the blade of Z. saccharina and the absence of these 
structures from the blade of Z. Agardhit. L. saccharina, in this 
sense, occurs in abundance north of Cape Cod, but has not, thus far, 
been detected to the south of it, although the search has been made 
with some thoroughness. The forms of this species are many, and 
not readily reducible under a few names; but the following enumera- 
tion may help somewhat in indicating the limits of the variation of 
the species. 
f. NORMALIS Setchell. The stipe of this form is long or short, 
but always much shorter than the blade. ‘The base of the blade is 
cuneate when young, becoming orbicular, and even decidedly cordate, 
when adult. The blade is ample, thin and ruffled when young, with. 
the two rows of bulle, or alternate elevations and depressions, con- 
spicuous. Later, the blade becomes thicker, though still ruffled and 
bullate, but finally in autumn this ruffled and bullate ample summer 
blade is replaced by a blade which is still thick, but perfectly plane, 
always lacking the bulla and with only a trace, if any at all, of the 
ruffle. This is the common form on the northern coast. 
f. CAPERATA Farlow (as variety). The Z. caperata of De la 
Pylaie is a well-marked form, or perhaps even variety, of this 
species. In habit, it resembles Z. /ongicruris very much, as may be 
seen from De la Pylaie's figure (1824, pl. 9, f. C.), having the stipe 
long, as compared with the blade, sometimes even longer than the 
blade, with the apical crook and sudden narrowing at the transition 
place of that species. The stipe is solid, however, and the blade 
has conspicuous mucilage ducts, so that it is to be regarded asa 
form of Z. saccharina rather than of Z. longicruris. The species 
appears to be annual, but that is not certain as yet, and careful 
observations should be made to determine this point. This form is 
