See. MELANOSPERMEiE. ( 53 ) Fam. LAMINARIiE. 



LAMINARIA LONGICRURIS.— De la Pyl. 



Gen. Char. — Frond stalked, coriaceous or rarely membranaceous, flat, without a midrib. 

 Fructification : spores collected in spots or sori under the surface of some part of 

 the frond. Name from Zamma, " a thin plate." 



Laminaria longkruris. — " Stipes very long, slender at the base, hollow 

 and inflated in the middle, and gradually tapering to the apex," cylindrical 

 and smooth, suddenly expanding into an ovato-lanceolate, membrana- 

 ceous, obtuse, much crisped frond ; root of many branching fibres. 



Laminaria longicruris. — De la Pyl. An. Sc. Nat. vol. iv. p. 177, t. 9, f. A. ; 

 Fl. Ter. Neuv. p. 41 ; Post. & Ruppr. Illustr. p. 10 ; /. 0. Agardh, 

 Sp. Gen. Alg. vol. i. p. 135; Kiltz. Sp. Alg. p. 576 ; Harv. P. B. 

 plate 339 ; Harv. Syn. p. 27 ; Atlas, plate 7, fig. 27 ; Harv. N. B. A. 

 pai-t 1, p. 93. 



Laminaria ophiura. — Bory, Diet. Class, vol. ix. p. 198. 



Hab. — Cast ashore at Orkney ; Gamnie, Banffshire ; Ayrshire coast ; near Dunluce 

 Castle, Antrim ; but all of them much worn, evidently stray waifs from a foreign shore. 



(teogr. Dist. — Spitzbergen ( Fa^Z) ; Baltic {Agardh); Newfoundland (J>e Za Py^aie) ; 

 and along the American shore to Cape Cod {Dr. Harvey) ; Bahamas {Chauvin) ; 

 Kamtschatka {Postells and RupprecJit). 



Description. — Root consisting of many rather slender, branching 

 fibres, proceeding from the lower part of the stem for a distance of seven 

 inches from the base, and securely attached by their flattened extremi- 

 ties. Stem tubular, five to six feet in length or more, slender and 

 flexible at the base, gradually thickening upwards to the middle or to a 

 point about one-third from the summit, then again tapering to the sum- 

 mit, cylindrical ; diameter from an inch to an inch and a-half in the widest 

 part, flattened at the apex, and suddenly expanding into the frond, which 

 is obtuse or even somewhat cordate at the base, somewhat widened to the 

 middle, then gradually forming a widely rounded lanceolate obtuse apex, 

 the whole margin very much crisped and plaited like some specimens of 

 L. saccharina, or rather like Ulva linza ; in some specimens the outline is 

 roundish ovate, in others, broadly lanceolate or lanceolate, four to five 

 feet or more in length, and one to two in breadth ; but very variable in 

 length and width. Substance membranaceous. Colour of the stem pale 

 brown, of the frond more greenish olive. 



This beautiful and, although large, yet very delicate species we fear 



