118 ' BRITISH SEA- WEEDS. [^BlelaiiGSjjermece^ 



Genus YIII. LAMINARIA, Lamour. 



Generic Character. Trond stipitate, coriaceous, or membran- 

 aceous, flat, undivided, or irregularly cleft, ribless. rructifica- 

 tion, clouded spots of spores, imbedded in the tliickened sub- 

 stance of some part of the frond. The name Laminaria {Lam.) 

 is from lamina, a thin plate, in allusion to the flat frond. — Harvey. 



1. Laminaria digitata, Lamx. Sea-girdles, Tangle, Sea- 

 staff, or Sea-ivand, of the Highlanders. 



Hab. In the sea, generally in deep water. Perennial. 

 Common. 



The root is composed of thick clasping fibres ; the stem, 

 which is woody, is from two to six feet in length, and from 

 half an inch to nearly two inches in diameter. It is solid, 

 tough, and in old plants woody, expanding into a frond of 

 from two to six, and occasionally eight feet and upwards in 

 length, and twcrfeet in breadth, deeply cleft into several 

 segments. The colour is olivaceous brown. In its young 

 state it has no woody stem, and the frond is entire, resem- 

 bling young plants of Laminaria saccharina, but thicker 

 and less elegant. The reproduction of the frond in old 

 plants is very curious ; but for this I refer to the plate and 

 description in ' Phycologia Britannica.' 



