Marine Groves and Gardens 125 



water. Lower down, these same plants can be seen 

 growing; but in this place, well within the washing of 

 the waves, they are robust and vigorous. 



Not far below the line reached by the ordinary tides, 

 especially in neighborhoods of streams, or estuaries 

 w^here brackish water prevails, a bright fringe of green 

 skirts the shore. This consists largely of the con- 

 fervold algae, or silkweeds, whose fine, filamentous 

 fronds sometimes grow in tufts so dense that they are 

 matted at the base. But in close company with these 

 also grow many others. Here w^e find Enteromorpha 

 bitestinalis, whose tubular. Inflated fronds have given It 

 its characteristic Latin name, and Its sister plants, E. 

 clathrata and E. coinpressa. Here, too, occasionally 

 attached to larger algal forms or lying loose in drifted 

 clumps, are the pretty locks of mermaid's hair, a blue- 

 green seaweed with the curious scientific name of 

 Lynghya majiiscula; and occurring In spreading patches 

 are the minute threads of OsciUaria and Spirulina, 

 strange, restless plants which under the microscope 

 exhibit a ceaseless vibrating movement. Then we 

 come to the water, where Ulva abounds. 



Who has not heard of "sea lettuce"? Ulva, which 

 almost universally goes by that name, is the commonest 

 and best known of all the seaweeds. That this Is so 

 Is not because of Its greater abundance, for there are 

 many others far greater In numbers If not in range, 

 or because it is the largest of all green seaweeds, 

 therefore the most conspicuous, ^but it is by virtue of 

 its association with those bays and Inlets of a type 

 whereon mankind has always been wont to congregate. 

 It is identified with nearly every seaport and harbor 



