810 ALG.E INARTICULATE. [Porphyra. 



branaceous substance and reticulated structure, rarely gelatinous. 

 Frond with a very minutely scutate root, expanded, or tubular and 

 continuous. Fructification, roundish and mostly quaternate gra- 

 nules or minute sporular grains, imbedded in the delicate mem- 

 brane of the frond. 



46. Porphyra. Ag. Porphyra, or Purple- Laver. 



Frond plane, exceedingly thin and of a purple colour. Fruc- 

 tification ; — 1. scattered sori of oval seeds; — 2. roundish gra- 

 nules, mostly arranged in a quaternate manner, and covering the 

 whole frond. Grev. Alg. Brit. p. 168. t.'\§. — Name; no^v^s, 

 purple ; in allusion to the colour of the fronds; — a beautiful 

 Genus, distinguished by the delicacy and colour and glossy hue 

 of the frond ; the species of which I fear are too closely allied. 



1. P. lacinidta, Ag. (laciniated purple- Laver); fronds aggre- 

 gated deeply cleft the segments dilated, variously cut and 

 waved. Grev. Alg. Brit. p. 168. — Alga laciniata, Lightf. Scot. 

 p. 974. t. 33. Ag. Sp. Alg. v. I. p. 104 — Ulva umbilicalis, 



E. Bot. t. 2296. 



In the sea, on rocks, stones, Algae and wood, abundant. 0. Spring to 

 Autumn. — This, under the name of Laver, is much eaten in many places, 

 especially the south of England, pickled with salt and preserved in jars, 

 and, when brought to table, served up with lemon juice. According to 

 Lightfoot, the inhabitants of the western isles gather it in the month of 

 March, and after pounding and macerating it with a little water, eat it with 

 pepper, vinegar, and butter. Others stew it with leeks and onions. — 

 Dr. Greville describes the fructification, as — 1. roundish granules ar- 

 ranged in fours and covering the whole frond in which they are imbed- 

 ded; and 2. sori of smaller ovate grajiules scattered without order 

 chiefly towards the margin of the frond. 



2. P. vidgdris, Ag. {common purple- Laver); frond ovato-lan- 

 ceolate, the margins more or less waved. Grev. Alg. Brit, 

 p. 169. — Ulva purpurea, Roth, Cat. Bot. v. 1. t. 6. Ag. Sp. 

 Alg. p. 191. — Ulva umbilicalis, Lightf. 



In the same situations as the preceding, from which I should fear it is 

 not really different. 0. Spring to Autumn. — A foot or more long. Dr. 

 Greville saw a specimen which measured 3 feet. The same author 

 observes that the quaternate granules are smaller here than in the pre- 

 ceding species. 



3. P.? minidta, Ag. (scarlet purple-Laver); frond solitary 

 plane oblong gelatinous red-rose colour. — Ag. Syst. p. 191. 

 Carm.MSS Ulva miniata, Lyngb. Hydroph. Dan. p. 29. t. 6. 



In the sea: coast of Appin, Capt. Carmichael—" My only authority 

 for claiming this plant as a native of these shores, was a fragment found 

 floating in the sea. It was three inches in diameter, plane, curled on the 

 margin, of a bright sanguineous colour, extremely gelatinous and filled 

 with close-set roundish sporidia. When laid on paper to dry, it dis- 

 solved into a reddish sanies, being probably in a state of putrescence, 

 and nothing remained but a mere stain. From its texture and fructifi- 

 cation, it evidently does not belong to this genus." Carm. MSS. 



