THE riTCAOE;R OF .TArAN. ^0'] 



disposed spirally around the til)])rcviatod stem. The diameter of 

 the stem measures ca. 1.5 mm. and seems to gain a little even 

 in a fully grown form. As the branches elongate upwards the 

 scale-like leaves gradually increase in size. The leaves on the 

 portion several centimeters above the root are generally oblongo- 

 obovate, 1.5-2.5 cm. long and )>-4mm. wide, with obtuse apex, 

 sparingly serrated, ribless and with or without spots. The sub- 

 stance of the leaves is thin but coreaceous. They almost all fall 

 olV before the frond attains its maturity. 



The lateral branches at the lower portions of the principal 

 members are short, hardly one inch long; but they become gradually 

 longer on the uppei- portions and eventually ramify decompoundly. 

 Stems of the branches are cylindrical, filiform and smooth. The 

 leaves on these branches and branchlets are very small, about 

 5mm. in length, and 1.5mm. in width, with a few dentations on 

 the margins; subspathulate or lanceolate in shape. Often some 

 of the leaves are bifid cuneate and sometimes apparently henii- 

 phyllous. Most of them have a few cryptostomata in a series 

 along the median line, as in the leaves of Sargassum confusum. 



Vesicles are subspherical or pyriform, less than 3 mm. in 

 length, with a stalk about half as long as the vesicles, sparingly 

 dotted with minute cryptostomata. The apices of the vesicles are 

 generally mucronate but some of the upper young ones are fusi- 

 form. Two or three vesicles are generally found in the lower 

 portion of an ultimate ramulet. Very frequently the bractlet 

 below a receptacle is swollen at the apex into a small roundish 

 vesicle; or occasionally a small vesicle with a long stalk is given 

 off from the lateral side of a receptacle. 



Receptacles are cylindrical, attenuated upwards, with a short 

 stalk below, growing solitary at the base of a subulate, filiform 



