THE MARINE ALC.E OF ESSEX. 3 



Disinan'stia actileata, Dictyosiphon foenicu/aceiis, D. hippiiroides, 

 Asperococcus eckinatics, Sphacelaria cirrhosa^ Chordaria JJagelliforiuis, 

 Leathesia diffof/nis, Launnaria digitaia, Saccorhiza bulbosa^ Pelvetia 

 canallculata, Chantransia seciDidata, Gelidiiim crinale, Gigarti?ia 

 inamillosa, Callophyllis laciniata, Lonientaria clave llosa, Niiophyllum 

 f)unctafum, Ceramiiim echionotiiffi, C. acanthonotum, C. ciliaium, ai:d 

 Polysiphonia fastigiata, all of them common species, are "conspicuous 

 by their absence" from the flora of Essex. For a moment we might 

 be tempted to think that some at least of these species had been 

 passed by as too common to deserve notice, but when on comparing 

 the Essex marine flora with that of the neighbouring counties of 

 SulTfolk and Norfolk we find very many of the same species also 

 missing there, one hardly knows what to think. Dictyosiphon 

 foeniculaceus, D. hippuroides, Leailiesia diffor/iiis, Laminaria digifafa, 

 Saccorhiza luillwsa^ Gigartina mamillosa, Co-ainiinn acanthonotUDi, 

 C. echioiiotum, and C. ciliaium have not been recorded from the 

 coasts of either Suffolk or Norfolk, while Pelvetia canaliciilata has 

 been " once found by Mr. Wigg ' on the coast of Norfolk, according 

 to I'aget,-' and the only Norfolk locality for Polysiphouia fastigiata 

 rests on the very doubtful authority of the Rev. G. Munford.'' 



It is not easy to account for the absence of these species, some 

 of which, eg, Laiiiiiiaria digitata'' and Saccorhiza Inilbosa, are too 

 large to escape the observation of even the most careless collector. 

 Most probably the absence of fixed rocks large enough to form a 

 safe anchorage for their roots accounts for the absence of the large 

 sea-weeds, but one would surely have thought that Pelvetia canaliciilata 

 and Gigartina inaniillosa could have subsisted wherever Fucus 

 vesiculosiis and Chondriis crispus were to be found. The absence, 

 too, of Sphacelaria cirrhosa, Polysiplionia fastigiata, and Callophyllis 

 laciniata appears to me most extraordinary. Of course the large 

 amount of sweet water poured into their estuaries by the Thames, 

 Blackwater, Stour, and Orwell must to a great extent modify the 

 marine flora of the county. There can be no doubt, however, that 

 a careful search would result in the discovery of many of the missing 

 species, and also of a large number of brackish water species not 

 yet recorded from Essex. 



The marine flora of Essex is southern in its character, as is shown 



3 " Sketch of the Natural History of Yarmouth," 1834. 



4 Botany, in White's " History and Directory of Norfolk," 1864. 



5 The Fucus ,iii,'itati/s mtnuontl by Goodenoii2;h an-J Wood wan! (Linn. Trans, iii , p. 155 

 as occurring at Harwich before 1795 was probably a form of L. saccarlthia. 



