127 



N(tiE-i ON Fi.i)R[i)i:.i;. IIy CtKn. \V. Maktix. 



< )f till- t\V(i (iidiTs fiiiii|iri>inu Jl/iodophi/reir^ Floruleic is tlu' most notewortliy. 

 Till- iuiml)i'r ot' species eomiiosiiiii' it is large, all of wliieli have the predoiiiinatiiig 

 red sliade in their normal eonditioii. though other colors are sometimes very <"on- 

 spicnoiis. Like ntlu-r noted case-:, the ordei' seems to he a very natnral one; in 

 fact, the genera and species graduate into one another so finely that sharp dis- 

 tinctions can not he oiitained. Ilowevt'r, it mnst not l)e inferred tiiat exceptions 

 do not occur hew as is common to the other natnral divisions of the ])lant king- 

 ilom. With the exception of a few genera, sncl\ as Butrachogpenmim, Lfimancu, 

 JBottf/ia. Chanlraiisiii and lliliJenhnnidtui, ail arc marine; their favorite jtlace of 

 growth is h(do\v low-water mark and in deeper water. Imt some forms are foiuni in 

 tide pools. 



Both morphnlogieally and iihysiologically, hy many it is claimed that this 

 •0;Y/e/' exhihits the hiuhesi cli;iracters known to alga'. The structure of the frond 

 varii's witli the genera : in ^ome the tissues are very sim[)le ; in others very deli- 

 ■cati- and complex. All plant bodies .-ire multicellular, and present a variety of 

 forn)s; some ai'e filamcnt<iii.<. cither monosiphonnus, as in Ceram'nnn, or polysiph- 

 onous, as in Poliji^iphonia ; growth is iiy means of an apical cell; others are nirm- 

 ■bratiaceous, formed by branching tiiaments cohering and the filling up of mucilag- 

 inous substance between; in the latter, growth results from a division of marginal 

 series of cells. 



While consideral)le variety of forms and complicated structures obtain in the 

 Fli'iideo', the mox/ no/en'oii/iij c/xiracfers to be brought out are the methods of repro- 

 tlnction; namely, ve(/el"tire midtiplicatioii and spore reproduction. < )f the former, 

 many methods are [uirely vegetative, among which, reproduction by mnlticeliular 

 gemrase being the most rare, such as found in Melohesia. Xon-motile cells from 

 terminal cells of branches are thrown oti', and to all appearances represent a kind 

 of transition stage between the purely vegetative and the spore-reproductive. < >f 

 the latter, two divisions occur; namely, tin.' non-se.ni<d and the sexiKil-.^jxire repro- 

 tluction. The non-sexual spores are formed either sexncdh/ <n- asc.niKih/; the former 

 are always reproduced by the sporophi/te, aitd known ascarpospores, while the latter 

 are formed by the gamefophyte, and known as gonidia, or ordinary spores. These 

 are produced in unilocular >iiorangia. as in Ceramiiini, or in Mniltilocuiar spor- 

 angia, as in Dasi/<(. 



These bright red. niuiionless spcucs are divided into tliree classes, viz., tetru- 

 sporex^ which may be cruciate, /onate or trijiartitc, po/i/sjiDri-.i and sier<jspore.<. The 

 latter are i-omnion to species of Ceruiiiiinn and C(d'it/i(nnnioii, and consist <tf chains 

 'of oblong cells formed directlv from the branches at their extremities. The 



