26 J. H. PRICE, I. TITTLEY & W. D. RICHARDSON 



Devon has by far the earliest records of British Padina. The species was well established during 

 the late 17th century; although locations have probably varied in density of populations at different 

 times, there has been no subsequent indication of total loss of the alga. It is unfortunate that no 

 contemporary localised algal material clearly identifiable with Ray's Historia plantarum, vol. I, 

 1686, has ever been traced. Buddie's collection (BM) contains much from Rev. L. Stevens 

 ['Stephens' ; collected mostly in Devon and Cornwall], but of Padina there is only the Harwich 

 specimen (see Essex). Even so, the detailed and obviously original MS observation by Newton, 

 from the same or similar location and period, indicates that there is no reason to doubt the 

 authenticity of the [Stevens's] observation at Exmouth. Ray (1688) used the English form 

 'Exmouth', as in all his subsequent Latin or English treatments; his earlier (1686) use of '. . . 

 prope Exoniam Devoniae urbem . . .' was therefore either an error or an adaptation of the Latin 

 geographical name most nearly fitting his needs. Stearn (1966 : 220) indicated that Exonia is the 

 Latin name for Exeter, not Exmouth. 



For many years, this original Stevens record provided the only basis for the inclusion of 

 Padina pavonica in floristic works on the British Isles. Even after the species had been detected 

 elsewhere, or thought to be so, the record was still quoted; many examples are provided in the 

 records list. Because of its historical importance, the original Stevens record is considered here 

 out of geographical order. Subsequent recording from this geographical area has been patchy and 

 some doubtless secondary. Most later records, however, are supported by original comments based 

 on specimens; they are fairly evenly spaced throughout the 19th century, ending with that of 

 Tregelles (1932). It is not clear whether or not Tregelles based the observation partly on his own 

 experience, because the list of locations is generally qualified as being from 'various observers'. 

 Numerous visits since 1969 have failed to establish the authenticity of this recent record from 

 Exmouth. To the east of the mouth of the Exe (SY 025794), the rocky area (Conger Rocks, Maer 

 Rocks, Orcombe Rocks) was densely covered by Enteromorpha, leaving little clear space in which 

 Padina could have been growing. 



Exmouth and Dawlish, to the west on the opposite bank of the Exe, tend to be associated. 

 Older records were sometimes actually localised to an area between Exmouth and Dawlish. Most 

 of that shore-line is sandy or estuarine but near Dawlish Warren, rocks similar to those at Sidmouth 

 break water off Langstone Cliff (SY 980780). Despite a careful search, no Padina was found there, 

 although there are 1869 statements that the alga was '. . . growing abundantly . . .' on Dawlish 

 Warren rocks ; specimens dated in 1 850 and 1 876 lend support to this, some being actually localised 

 to 'Langston Point'. The earliest records localised to Dawlish are of great interest, as they re- 

 present a genuine earlier attempt to assemble seasonal data like those in Cotton's 1906-11 Field 

 Notes and specimens from Weymouth. E. P., in the volume now held in BM (see Dorset and 

 Devon record lists), collected P. pavonica consistently, from the one pool where he could find 

 plants, over the period 4 July to 7 August 1 799. From being just a recognisable population on 4 July 

 Padina had attained tetrasporangial production by 7 August. The location can be pin-pointed 

 exactly, since one specimen is annotated 'one mile East of Dawlish', coinciding with the rocks 

 below Langstone Cliff. A population was therefore present at least from 1799 (and probably 

 earlier) until 1876 (and probably later), although it seems currently to be absent. South of Dawlish, 

 rocky areas similar to that at Langstone Cliff, possibly bearing Padina, exist at Cowhole Rock 

 (SX 962762), Old Maid Rock (SX 963761) and Horse Rocks (SX 961757). 



Large numbers of records from Sidmouth, the most easterly locality in Devon, exist for the 

 period 1829-33 [-1843]; most are based on herbarium material. Many collectors, including Miss 

 A. Ball, Miss Cutler, Greville, Mrs Griffiths, and W. H. Harvey, contributed. Thirty-seven years 

 absence of recorded information after 1843 culminated in the long series of records from 1880 to 

 date; with few exceptions, these later records are merely localised to Sidmouth. In the early years 

 from 1880 onwards, collectors most involved included Batters, Buff ham, Holmes and Tellam. The 

 Tregelles record of 1932, the first for 27 years and not added to until 1949, is almost certain princi- 

 pally to be secondary, although the subsequent (1949) record derives from material. Some of the 

 older records may have been collected from Chit Rocks, west of Sidmouth near Jacob's Ladder. 

 Padina now seems not to grow on these rocks, but there exist scattered populations in pools and on 

 gentle slopes of the soft slimy rocks surfaces, somewhat further west on Lade Foot Rocks, below 



