2 THE MARINE ALG.« OF ESSEX. 



" British Marine Alg?e," added to the notes scattered through the 

 volumes of The Essex Naturalist, complete the published 

 records of the Marine Algce of the county. 



The present list is principally based on the important collection 

 of " Seaweeds of Harwich and District," gathered by Mr. G. P. 

 Hope, and presented by him to the Museum of the Essex Field 

 Club, This valuable collection contains about 230 separate speci- 

 mens belonging to 59 genera and 8r species. The specimens are 

 well preserved and neatly mounted on cardboard, and in most cases 

 are accompanied by drawings of magnified portions of the frond or 

 fructification. It is well to note, however, that most of these draw- 

 ings have been copied from Harvey's " Phycologia Britannica," and 

 may, in some cases I fear, be a source of confusion : for instance, 

 the drawing accompanying the specimen of Ceramium fiabelligerum 

 is taken from Harvey's figures of Ceramium acanthonotum (" Phyc. 

 Brit.," plate cxl., figs. 3 and 4), the species to which Mr. Hope 

 supposed his plant to belong. Where the drawings have been made 

 from the plants themselves they are useful in identifying the species, 

 besides being ornamental, and add greatly to the interest of the 

 collection. 



In addition to the Hope collection, I have examined a collection 

 of Marine Algas from Felixstowe,-' made by Mr, (1. Massee, who very 

 kindly placed them at my disposal. I have also examined the 

 Herbarium of the British Museum for Essex localities, but without 

 much success. I have to thank Mr. T. H. Buffham for kindly furni- 

 shing me with the Essex localities from his collection, and Mr, 

 W. Cole for placing his Essex specimens at my disposal, A careful 

 search through my own Herbarium and note-books has resulted in 

 adding between twenty and thirty species, not included in any of the 

 other collections, to the list of Essex Marine Alga:;. 



So far as is known at present, the marine flora of Essex consists 

 of 152 species, included in 93 genera, and is marked as much by 

 the absence of many species common and abundant elsewhere as by 

 the presence of a few which are very rarely met with on the shores 

 of our islands. As examples of the latter class, Edocarpus erectus, 

 Phyliitis filiformis, Scinaia fiircellata, and Gj'citeloupia filicina may 

 be mentioned, while as examples of the former Calothrix coiife?-vicola, 



2 The records of localities of Essex Marine Algae are so scanty, and Essex specimens in public 

 Herbaria so few, that I have thought il advisable to include in this list species which grow a short 

 distance beyond the boundaries of the county of Essex, more especially those found at Felixstowe, 

 which is at least within the jurisdiction of -the Harwich Harbour Board. This, I think, is allow- 

 able in dealing with a marine flora of a county where most of the Alga; found are water-borne. 



