264 SERTULARILDJE. 



denticles, one is often absent or nearly obsolete, whilst the 

 other is developed to a length equalling that of the prin- 

 cipal mucro, which thus appears bifid. 



The capsules, which are large, elongate, subsessile, ovate 

 above and tapering off below, are irregularly and profusely 

 distributed. They are furnished with a circular lid, that 

 opens as the contents are matured, and remains attached 

 by a portion of its margin, which acts as a hinge. They 

 bear a close resemblance, as Ellis has observed, to the 

 elegant seed-vessels of some of the mosses. 



S. operculata is often prettily festooned by tufts of 

 Crisia eburnea, and studded with the small, silvery patches 

 of Cellepora Hassallii. It is sometimes tinged with red. 



Hob. On Fuel) at and a little beyond low-water mark ; 

 generally distributed. It has a special liking for Lami- 

 naria digitata, the stems of which it often clothes with a 

 dense, tangled thicket. 



[The species has a wide range. Belgium (Van Ben.): 

 La Charente inferieure, Bay of Biscay, pretty common 

 (Beltremieux): South Africa (Busk) : Patagonia; the Falk- 

 land Islands ; the Auckland Islands ; Australia ; New 

 Zealand; Kerguelen's Land.] 



4. S. FILICULA, Ellis and Solander. 



SERTULARIA FILICULA or FERN CORALLINE, Ell. 8f Soland. Zoopb. 57, pi. vi. 

 figs, c, C ; Lanik. An. s. Vert. (2nd ed.) 146 ; Lamx. Cor. 

 flex. 188 ; Johnston, B. Z. 76, pi. xiv. fig. 1. 

 ,, ABIETINA j3, Pall. Elench. 134. 



DYNAMENA FILICULA, Flem. Br. An. 544. 



Plate LIII. fig. '3. 



ZOOPHYTE composed of long, irregularly branched, luxuriant 

 shoois ; STEMS pinnate, slender, flexible, bent at short 

 intervals into alternate angles ; pinnae crowded, springing 



