Boone, Marine Algae, Cruise of "Alva" 23 



Class: Corallinaceae 



CORALLINACEAE verae 



Genus: CHEILOSPORUM Areshoug 



Cheilosporum sagittatum Lamouroux 



Plates 2 and 3 



Type : This was taken by the "Uranie" at Port Natal, South 

 Africa and Mauritius, and deposited in M. Lamouroux's herbari- 

 um, which Mme. Weber van Bosse (1904) refers to as being at 

 Caen. 



Distribution : Littoral zone. South Africa, at Port Natal and 

 Algoa Bay (Lamouroux, Harvey; Swan River (Preiss) Kiama, 

 New South Wales, on tidal rocks (Harvey) ; Society Islands 

 (Boone). 



Dr. Harvey refers to Cheilosporum elegans of New Zealand as 

 "a very closely, perhaps too closely allied species," but states that 

 it is a slenderer plant. The present writer, lacking additional speci- 

 mens, refrains from comment, other than to note that extension 

 of the geographical range eastward to the Society Islands, estab- 

 lished by the "Alva" material, indicates that it is not improbable 

 that sagittatum is to be found in New Zealand. 



Material examined: One cluster, taken on Teviatoa Reef, 

 Raiatea Island, Society Islands, August 21, 1931, by the "Alva." 



Colour: Dr. Harvey gives an exquisite colour plate of this 

 species (Phycol., Australia, London, 1865, pi. 250), which he de- 

 scribes as follows: "The colour, when growing, is a deep and 

 rather bright purple red, which becomes duller on drying, and on 

 exposure the colour fades to a chalky white." 



Technical description : The "Alva" plant is 4.2 centimeters 

 high and in the preserved state forms a fan-shape tuft, composed 

 of numerous delicate fronds, expanded as shown in plate 2. The 

 fronds arise from a spreading, calcareous crust-like root or base. 

 The fronds are flabelliform in outline and fastigiate, stipitate, 

 repeatedly, regularly dichotomous above the middle. The more 

 proximal articulations are more obconical, with short, appressed, 

 lateral lobes ; the median and upper articulations are deeply sagit- 



