216 BRITISH SEA- WEEDS. [^Rhodosjoermecp.. 



globules of roundish seeds, imbedded between the two coats of 

 the frond. — Gremlle. 



1. IrvIDiEA EDULIS^ BoT?/. 



Hab. On marine rocks near low-water mark. Perennial. 

 Fruiting in winter. Very common. ^Ylien young it 

 makes a pretty good specimen for the herbarium, adhering 

 to paper. AYlien old it becomes very dark in drying, and 

 does not adhere. Stackhouse tells us that it is eaten in 

 the south-west of England by the fishermen, after they 

 have pinched it between hot irons, when it is said to taste 

 like roasted oysters. If at all used in Scotland, it is after 

 being roasted in the fiying-pan. But though it should be 

 loathed by men, to many of God's creatures it is very 

 savoury ; to crabs, mollusks, &c., it must be dainty food, 

 for I have scarcely ever seen a full-grown specimen that 

 was not perforated by these animals, like a flag that had 

 long stood " the battle and the breeze.''^ 



Genus LI. CATEXELLA, Greville. 



Geu. Char. " Fronds filiform, somewhat compressed, creeping, 

 throwing up numerous branches, contracted as if jointed in a 

 moniliform manner, composed interiorly of branched filaments, 

 radiating from the centre." — Greville. "Fructification: 1, 



