254 SERTTJLARIID^E. 



5. D. TAMARISCA, Linnseus. 



"SEA TAMARISK," Ellis, Corall. 4, pi. i. figs, a, A. 



SERTULARIA TAMARISCA, Linn. Syst. 1307 ; Pall. Elench. 129 ; Lamx. Cor. 



flex. 188; LamTc. An. s. Yert. (2nd ed.) ii. 153; JO^HS?!. B. Z. 



74, pi. xiii. figs. 2, 3, 4. 

 DYNAMENA TAMARISCA, Flem. Br. An. 543. 

 DiniASiA TAMARISCA, Agassiz, N. H. U. S. iv. 355. 



Plate LI. 



SHOOTS stout and erect, irregularly branched, the branches 

 commonly alternate, sometimes opposite, long, simple 

 or variously branched ; HYDROTHEC^E very large, cylin- 

 drical, the upper half free and divergent, with a wide, 

 tridentate aperture ; GONOTHEC^E (male) compressed, ob- 

 cordate, attenuated below, broad and truncated above, 

 with a small spine at each side, and a central tubular 

 aperture; (female) elongate, oval below, above three- 

 sided, with a pyramidal summit, the edges of the pyramid 

 serrated, and its basal angles produced into spines. 



D. TAMARISCA is distinguished by its robust habit and the 

 large size of its tubular calycles, which give a strongly 

 serrated appearance to the stems and branches. They are 

 of a thin, transparent, corneous texture. The ramification 

 is irregular long, simple branches alternating with others, 

 which are pinnate or bipinnate. The branches frequently 

 do not lie in the same plane as the stems, but spring from 

 them in various directions, so as to give a somewhat 

 shrubby appearance. The mode of growth is straggling 

 and irregular. 



The capsules are produced abundantly, and often line the 

 branches in conspicuous rows. The male and female are 

 commonly borne, it would seem, on distinct colonies ; but 

 this is not universal, as I have a specimen on which they 

 are intermingled. The former, which alone were known 

 to Ellis and Johnston, are somewhat in the shape of a 

 heart, attached by its pointed end. The tubular orifice 



