32 ART. 12. — K. YENDO. 



The representative member of the present section, Corallina 

 officinalis L., is universally distributed. The plant undergoes much 

 morphological change according to the condition of the place 

 where it grows. Numerous formte have been described and many- 

 forms were mentioned as distinct species or varieties. The best 

 authorities, however, agree in the opinion that many of the formie 

 are local variations and not worth mentioning separately. If a 

 widely differing form be reduced to the variety or forma, because 

 of some similarity to Corallina officinalis L., only a few species 

 among those listed above may retain their specific position. There 

 is no doubt, as I formerly mentioned, that the forms hitherto 

 mentioned as Corallina officinalis may have been confounded with 

 various distinct plants ; or, on the contrary, some of the plants 

 described as independent species may be reduced to formal or 

 often to synonymous position. At present, however, the revision 

 of the specimens of Corallina officinalis, reported from innumer- 

 able localities, is beyond my power. I must confine myself here 

 to mentioning the formœ hitherto described with more or less 

 exact definitions ; and at the same time trying to make the nearest 

 possible references thereof. 



Setchell and Gaedner^^ combined Coriallina pilulifera Post. 

 et RuPR., Cor. Vancouver iensis mihi, and Cor. aculeata mihi, as 

 the formte of Cor. officinalis L., and mentioned a number of sub- 

 formse under them. It is a matter of personal preference whether 

 the plants with such affinity should be taken as form« or as 

 distinct species. The plants, however, which have characters 

 more or less constant and easily distinguishable from the typical 

 forms of Cor. officinalis L. may be considered as distinct species. 



1) Alg. N. W. Amer. p. 366. 



