256 



The plant forms dense tufts 14 cm high or more. The main 

 filaments are about l l k mm thick, tapering gradually upwards. 

 They are divided many times and very irregularly, with long and 

 short intervals between the forking, and often three branches 



Fig. 248. Chondria littoralis Harv. a, Part of a male plant. 

 b, Part of a female plant. (About 6:1). 



issue from the same spot. The main filaments are bare in the 

 basal part, higher up they bear scattered branches of variable 

 length; these and the uppermost ends of the filaments are covered 

 with ramuli spreading on ah 1 sides. As these decrease evenly in 

 length upwards, all the uppermost parts of the thallus assume 

 a conical appearance (Fig. 248). 



