A Monograph of the Genas Alaria. gl 



this important peculiarity is not recognizable. The shape of the 

 base of the blade is also variable as in many others, according to 

 the age of frond. In the young forms it is cuneate or acute, but in 

 the fully matured forms, rounded or even cordate, with the transi- 

 tion point acute for a short length. The close arrangement of the 

 sporophyUs also varies somewhat, being sometimes, especially in the 

 younger forms, more or less separated. The plant, there^'ore, seems 

 to have a tendency to approach A. prœlonga Kjelui. 



The type specimen in the Herbarium of tlie Academy of 

 Science of Petrograd has the sporophylls only partly soriferous. 

 The upper sterile portion of each is thin and membranaceous, 

 broader than the soriferous portion. This character suggests the 

 placing of the species under the Metasoria. But after consulting 

 t]ie numerous specimens from our coast, which can not but be 

 identified with the present species, I am strongly inclined to 

 dispose the species under the Holosoria. In some specimens, the 

 sporophylls are oblong linear, with both ends obtuse or rounded, 

 and in others very long linear, often measuring more than a foot 

 in length and only a few centimeters in breadth. 



Remarks on the synonyms. The present species is easily re- 

 cognized and distinguished from the others by having a finely 

 plicated blade and large sporophylls. Ruprecht has already ob- 

 served the former character as he states " Querfalten am Blatte 

 ausgezeichnet, selbst am Bande der Fiedern. "i) The phcation of 

 the margins of sporophylls, however, is due to unequal con- 

 traction of the soriferous and sterile areas in drying. In the fresh 

 specimens they are simply undulating. The broad base of the blade 

 is counted by Ruprecht as one of the specific characters. This 

 has been regarded as of specific importance by Miyabe, Saunders, 



1) RuPKECHT : Tar.ge ties ochot. Meeres, p. 354. 



