V. RH0D0MELACEJ5. 51 



crowded toward the ends of the branches. Conceptades scattered on tlie ramuli. 

 Internode.f seldom more than twice as long as broad, often shorter. Tubes 12-1. '^-1.5 

 18-20 in different specimens. Lower part of the stem somewliat opaque, partially 

 coated with surface cells. Colour a blackish ])urple. Substance tough. A com- 

 mon North American form. 



Var. /3. ajfinis. Stems 12-18 inches long, thicker than hog's bristle, more dis- 

 tantly branched than var. a, with the branches more naked in their lower half 

 This variety, which I believe always grows in deep water, beyond tide marks, is 

 further remarkable for the greater length of internodes of the stem. 



Yar. y. plumosa. Steins 8-10 inches long, as thick as hog's bristle, undivided, 

 but set throughout at short distances with lateral branches, the lowest of which are 

 longest, the upper gaadually shorter, giving the general frond a pyramidal outline. 

 These branches are lanceolate in outline, slender, and many times pinnated, the 

 decompound ramuli being capillary and almost byssoid. Internodes of the lesser 

 branches thrice or four times as long as broad ; opaque towards the base of the 

 stem. Colour a purplish brown. Substance soft and flaccid. In drying, all parts, 

 except the base of the stem, adhere closely to paper. 



Var. S. grac'dUma. Stem 8-10 inches long, scarcely as thick as hog's bristle below, 

 capillary above, laxly set with distantly pinnated, slender, capillary branches. Ramidi 

 but slightly compound. Internodes of the branches very long ; from five to six or 

 eight times as long as broad, of the lesser branches shorter. Of this variety I have 

 seen but a solitary specimen, which is so unlike the ordinary state of the species, 

 that I had at first considered it specifically distinct ; but it seems, on closer exami- 

 nation, to be intermediate between the preceding and following forms. The great 

 length of the internodes is, however, a striking peculiarity. 



Var. f. tenuis. Stem G-10 inches long, as thick as hog's bristle, attenuated 

 upwards, decompound pinnate ; branches closely set and three or four times com- 

 pounded, the pinna? and pinnula; sometimes siibdistichous, sometimes spirally spread- 

 ing. Internodes of the branches 4-5, of tlie pinnaj 3-4, of {)innules thrice as long 

 as broad. Colour a blackish brown. Substance flaccid, but not lubricous. In 

 drying, it does not strongly adhere to paper. Not an uncommon American form. 

 It has the aspect of var. a, but is nmch more slender, and has much longer inter- 

 nodes. 



Var. f. Menziesii. Stems 3-4 inches high, as thick as horse hair, distantly 

 branched ; branches alternate, virgate, naked below, or with a few distant squarrose 

 or revolute simple ramuli, bipinnate above, narrow oblong in circumscription, dis- 

 tichous. Pinna' half an inch long, the lowest pinnula; frequently recurved or 

 curled, the upper erectopatent. Tubes 13. Colour dark hrown. Characterised by 

 the squarrose or revolute ramuli. The specimens described are marked " Rhodo- 

 mela fioccosa" in the Menziesian Herbarium. A specimen of the true R. fioccosa, 

 which was first discovered by Mr. Menzies, is fastened on a separate sheet. Our 

 plant is much smaller and more slender, and the microscopic analysis very different. 

 Though peculiar as a form, I do not think it can be separated by essential charac- 

 ters from P. nigrescens. 



Var. T). disticha. Stem as thick as hog's bristle, 4-6 inches long, distichously 



u 2 



