See. MELANOSPERMEiE. (161) Fam. ECTOCARPEiE 



SPHACELARIA RADICANS.-iTfm;. 



Gen. Char.— Fronds filiform, articulated, dichotomously branched ; apices of the branches 

 generally more or less distended, as if the apical cell was enlarged and inflated, 

 containing in its centre a dark granular mass of endochrome. Fructification : 

 "elliptical utricles (or spores) furnished with a limbus, borne on the ramuli." 

 Name from o-^a/ceAor, "a gangrene," in allusion to the withered, diseased-like 

 apices of the branches, very characteristic in some of the species. 



Sphacelaria radicans. — " Filaments erect or decumbent, sending out 

 a few fibrous radicles from the lower part, sparingly branched ; branches 

 alternate, simple, very erect, straight, and bare of ramuli j utricles 

 clustered, sessile, globose." — Phyc. Brit. 



Sphacelaria radicans. — Harv. in Hook. Br. Fl. vol. ii. p. 324 ; Harv. in Mack. 

 Fl. Hih. part 3, p. 181 ; Harv. P. B. plate 189; Hai-v. Man. p. 57; 

 Harv. Syn. p. 52; Atlas, plate 18, fig. 79; Harv. N. B. A. part 1, 

 p. 37 ; /. G. Agardh, Sp. Gen. Alg. vol. i. p. 137 ; Wyatt, Alg. 

 Danm. No. 210. 



Sphacelaria cirrhosa, ^simplex. — Ag. Sp. AJg. vol. ii. p. 29. 



Sphacelaria olivacea. — Ag. Sp. Alg. vol. ii. p. 30; Harv. in Hook. Br. Fl. 

 vol. ii. p. 324 ; Harv. in Mack. Fl. Hih. part 3, p. 181 ; Harv. Man. 

 1st edit. p. 39 ; Kiitz. Phyc. Gen. p. 292 ; Endl. 3rd Suppl. p. 24. 



Conferva radicans. — Dillw. Suppl. p. 57, t. C. ; E. Bot. 2138. 



Conferva olivacea.— Dillw. Suppl. p. 57, t. C. ; E. Bot. 2172 ; Hook. Fl. Scot. 

 part 2, p. 83. 

 Hab. — On shelving rocks, between tide-marks. Perennial. Autumn. Not uncommon. 

 At intervals from Lands' End to Orkney ; Irish coasts. 



Geogr. Dist.— Iceland, Baltic, Heligoland {Binder) ; coast of France {Chauvin). 



Description. — Root fibrous. Fronds filiform, cylindi-ical, not tapering 

 upwards, giving out a few filiform, tortuous radicles towards the base, 

 much tufted, from a quarter of an inch to an inch in height, veiy 

 sparingly branched ; branches subdichotomous or alternate, long, slender, 

 and simple, suberect, cylindrical, the apices rounded and obtuse. Occa- 

 sionally the branches are secund, and more rarely somewhat crowded 

 upwards, articulated throughout. Articulations scarcely so long as their 

 diameter, very faintly striated, somewhat contracted at the dissepiments. 

 Spores sessile, scattered plentifully over the upper branches, frequently 

 crowded with a very thin pellucid limbus. Substance somewhat flaccid, 

 and partially adhering to paper. Colour, a pale brownish olive. 



VOL. III. ^ 



