the fan-likc flabellule. llx- branching filament, ol which .1 flabellule is compo 

 from the monosiphon e to the apices visibly al first, bul afterwards ver) 



lualh and imp» onsequence of this the ultimate ramuli are distinctly thinner 



m i rhe filaments composing the flabellule have .1 porous 



ith and are laterally coherent. Further the flabellules cohere laterally with their 

 t'horl, and so form wide plates <>r complete collars which encircle the 

 .il cohesions <>!" flabellules are liable t" become broken by wear and tear 

 h should be added that the successive dichotomies in the flabellule are so neatly 

 first that, in f. brevifolius at least, they tend to lie in concentric zones lig, 1 

 apitulum ol A'. phoenix is however very variable in its external appearance, 

 il ihape, in the length of the flabellules and in their degree of lateral cohereno 

 with one another. These differences unfortunately do not afford sufficiently constant data for 

 .1 satisfactorj grouping of these varying plants. Nevertheless, for the sake of convenience three 

 principal forms may be singled out for definition, as shown above. F. brevifolius (fig. [84) is 

 the most clearly marked ol these with its long regular subcyKndric capitulum of closely imbri- 

 cating short green collars. F. longifolius (lig. 1S7) is also fairly definite with its shorter obovate 

 capitulum composed of irregularly imbricatin^ separated plat<s 01 flabellules, which are 2— 4 times 

 as long as those ol t. brevifolius, and consist ui' filaments with narrower diameter for the 

 ..kt part of their length. Intermediate between these two is f. typicus. 



1 , typicus, the oldest representative of the species, was figured by Ellis and Solandek 

 it as Corallina phoenix, the original plant of which is lust [our lig. [83 is a copy of 

 their figure). Lam i roux copied Ellis and Solander's figures in his Expos. Méth. pi. 25, figs. 

 2, 3. Through the kindness of Prof. Lignier of Caen, we have heen abl< to examine the plants 

 referred to Nesea phoenix in Lamouroux's herbarium. They are labelled in his MS. as coming 

 from "Banc de Bahama". ( )ne of his specimens is in the Paris Herbarium, and bears two 

 labels, one written by Lamouroux, the other by Decaisne (" Penicillus Phoenix- Bahama, ex 

 herb. Lamouroux"; with the pencilled addition ^Phipocephalus"). These appear to bc the 

 oldest specimens known, except that of Samuel Dale. 



Au attempt was made in Mazé & Schramm's Algues de la Guadeloupe Ed. II. 1870 ~~ 

 p. 87 to divide this called by them Udotea phoenix, by splitting off a var. elatior 



Crouan without description). Under the latter is given as a synonym Udotea plumula Crouan, 

 published in Schramm and M azé's first edition 118051 of the book, a very rare volume which 

 we have never been able to meet with. Ma/i. issued examples <>f this variet) Udotea phoenix 

 var. elatior Crn.) under n°. 24, 1 ! sér., in his exsiccatae. There are in the British Museum 

 and in the Kew Herbarium specimens of this which are entirely different from one another. 

 The British .Museum specimen is 10 cm. long including the rhizoids, and has a tapering capi- 

 tulum s cm. long composed of short flabellules; it is an excellent example of our f. brevifolius. 

 Keu plants on the other hand are very short, not exceeding 4.5 cm. high, with lax 

 composed of flabellules up to 2 cm. long, and must be referred to our f. longifolius. 

 therefore unable to understand what were the characteristics of Crouan's var. elatior. 

 Tl- 1 -: preserved specimens of R. phoenix which we have seen were collected b) 



