Ser. RhodospermEjE. Fam. Laurendacea. 



Plate VI. 



ASPARAGOPSIS SANFORDIANA, Haw. 



Gen. Char. Frond filiform, inarticulate, thyrsoideo-paniculate ; branches 

 penicillate, pinnately decompound, the ultimate ramelli setaceous, laxly 

 cellular (not articulate). Fructification: 1, ovate, pedunculate cerami- 

 dia, containing, within a membranous pericarp, a dense tuft of pear- 

 shaped spores ; 2, tetraspores . . . ? — Asparagopsis (Mont.), from 

 asparagus, the well-known vegetable so called, and 01/^9, a resem- 

 blance. 



From fiUformis, inarticulata, Jilo articulato monosiphonio percursa, thyrsoideo- 



paniculata. Rami (breves) penicillati, pinnatim decompositi et in ramellos 



setaceos laxe cellulosos soluti. Fruct. : 1, ceramidia pedunculata, a ramulo 



transformata, intra pericarpium membranaceum poro pertusum sporarum 



fasciculura fovenlia ; jila sporifera ramosissima. Tetrasporce ignotce. 



Asparagopsis Sanfordiana ; stems rising from robust, much branched 

 rhizomes, erect, simple, naked below, densely thyrsoid above the 

 middle, the penicillate branchlets obtuse (in outline) ; ramelli de- 

 compound-pinnate, pinnules opposite, incurved; ceramidia globose, 

 attenuated at base into the clavate peduncle. 



A. Sanfordiana; surculo valido ramosissimo caides plures euiittente; caulibus erectis 



simplicibus e basi longe nudis supra thyrsoideo-penicillatis, penicillis rarnel- 



lorum qnoquoversum egredientibus eximie obtusis ; pinnellis oppositis fili- 



formibus crispato-incitrvis ; ceramidiis globosis basi in pedtmculo clavato 



attenuatis. 



Aspakagopsis Sanfordiana, FLarv. Trans. R. I. Acad. v. 22. p. 544 ; Jig. 

 Austr. Exsic. n. 241. 



Hab. Rottnest Island, Western Australia ; cast ashore, JF. H. H. 



Geogr. Distr. As above. 



Descr. Root or rhizome, a mass of much branched, entangled, creeping stems 

 (surculi), as thick as crow-quills, throwing out below short branchlets set 

 with a few subulate ramuli ; and emitting upwards numerous erect stems, 

 6-8 or 10 inches long. These latter, or proper fronds, are as thick as the 

 surculi below, but are gradually attenuated upwards, and in all my numerous 

 specimens are quite simple. They are naked for half or three-fourths of 

 their length, for the space of 4-6 inches above the base, and are densely 

 clothed for the remainder of their length with penicillato-multifid branch- 

 lets. The branchlets are ^-1 inch long, closely inserted on all sides 

 of the stem, many times pinnated and attenuated to a capillary fineness, so 

 as to resemble little paint-brushes, and each brush is remarkably obtuse at its 

 point, as is also the general thyrsus of brushes. The ultimate ramelli nre 

 filiform, attenuated, subcompressed, curved or curled inwards, and coated 



