698 University of California Publications in Botany [Vol.8 



20. Fucus evanescens f. cuneatus Gardner 



Fronds small, 5-10 cm. high, membranaceous, regularly dicho- 

 tomous, olive brown ; basal segments decidedly cuneate, terminal seg- 

 ments almost linear, 4—8 mm. wide, apices truncate, midrib incon- 

 spicuous, slightly evanescent above, cryptostomata few, inconspicuous ; 

 receptacles complanate or occasionally swollen, deeply bifid, usually 

 acuminate, not definitely delimited, large relative to the size of the 

 plant ; conceptaeles relatively large and numerous. 



Growing on sandstone in the upper littoral region. Near Empire, 

 Coos Bay, Oregon. 



Gardner, Genus Fucus, 1922, p. 39, pi. 38. 



One becomes somewhat exasperated in attempting to deal with such 

 forms as the one mentioned above. Ordinarily it might be considered 

 a depauperate form of some other well developed and characteristic 

 form. There were several square rods of fruiting plants growing on 

 very gently sloping sandstone near high-tide level. There were no 

 •other plants growing near, and there was seemingly no reason w 7 hy, 

 from the standpoint of anchorage, they should not grow r much farther 

 down in the littoral belt. The reduced size could not be due to super- 

 abundance of fresh w 7 ater, for several much larger forms were found 

 growing from three to six miles farther up the bay wdiere the water 

 is much less saline. Many plants have well-developed mature 

 receptacles. 



Its general characters seem to favor its being grouped with F. 

 evanescens, although it will fit practically as well into the edentatus 

 group. We are placing it with the former until more can be learned 

 of its life-history. 



21. Fucus evanescens f. nanus Kjellm. 



Fronds minute, 4-5 cm. high, 2-5 cm. wide, without distinct stipe 

 and usually without holdfast, branching very irregularly, considerably 

 twisted, color variable, yellowish brown to olive green, fruiting 

 sparsely ; segments extremely variable in shape and size, midrib slightly 

 developed below, usually vanishing above, cryptostomata few or 

 absent ; receptacles entire or bifid, ovate-ellipsoidal or with divergent, 

 blunt or acuminate apices. 



