Sek. MELANOSPERMEJ:. ( 177 ) Fam. ectocarpe.^ 



Plate CLXXVIIL 

 ECTOCAEPUS CEINITUS.— Cr/;v;^ 



Gen. Chak. — "Frond capillai-y, jointed, olive or brown, flaccid, single-tubed. Fruit, 

 either spherical, elliptical, or lanceolate utricles (or spores), borne (externally) 

 on the ramuli, or imbedded in their substance." Name from (Krh^, "external," 

 and Kapnhs, "fruit." A name equally applicable to many other genera, and 

 unfortunately only to a few of the species in the present. 



EcTOCARPUS crmitius. — Filaments much tufted or cfespitosc, sparingly 

 branched ; branches distant, nearly simple, ramuli very patent ; spores 

 globose, scattered, sessile ; articulations very variable, two to three times 

 their diameter. 



EcTocAKPUS crinitus. — Carm. Alg. App. MSS. ; JTarv. in Booh. Br. Fl. vol. ii. 

 p. 326 ; Harv. P. B. plate 330 ; Harv. Man. p. 60 ; Harv. Syn. p. 56 ; 

 Atlas, plate 21, fig, 91 ; /. G. Agardh, Sp. Gen. Alg. vol. i. p. 17. 



Hab. — On muddy sea shores. Annual. Summer. Rare. Ai^ipm {Caj^t. Carmichael) ; 

 Watermouth, Devon (Mrs. Griffiths). 



Geoqr. Dist. ? 



Description. — Filaments two to four inches long or more, forming 

 extensive caespitose patches on mud or on mud-covered rocks, excessively 

 slender and delicate, slightly branched ; branches distant, patent, or 

 erecto-patent, very long, mostly simple, or with here and there a short, 

 very patent, cylindrical ramulus, scarcely tapering to the point, which is 

 obtuse. The principal branches are more or less flexuous, and slightly 

 interwoven. Articulations very variable, even in the same filament, 

 from one and a-half to two and a-half times their diameter, scarcely 

 constricted at the dissepiments. Substance rather rigid, membranous, 

 scarcely adhering to paper. Colour, a pale brownish olive. Fructifica- 

 tion : minute, spherical, sessile utricles, scattered sparingly on the upper 

 branches. 



This species we have only seen in the dried state, and are disposed 

 to think that it may tm-n out to be not a very uncommon one ; that 

 its unassuming form and obscure haunts, more than its rarity, are the 

 cause of its being so little known. Growing on mud, or on the low 

 mud-covered rocks, Hs slender and delicate fronds become prostrate when 

 the tide has left them ; and being of the same colour as the mud, may 

 be readily passed over without being observed. 



VOL. III. -^ ^ 



