V. LAURENCIACE.E. 71 



p. 164 and 408. Fucm pinnatijidiis, E. Bot. t. 1202. Turn. Hist. t. 20. Laurm- 

 cia spedabilis, Post, and Rujyr. p. \Q\ 



Hab. Montei'ey, California, D. Douglas., Dr. Coulter, (v. v.) 



Root hrnxvdrmg. Frond/m the Californian specimens, 8-12 inches long, one to 

 two lines in diameter, compressed below, becoming flatter and wider upwards, 

 deconi])ound-pinnate. Stem dividing below into several bi'auches, which are naked 

 in the lower half and there entire or dentate at the margin, and closely pinnate or 

 bipinnate above. In smaller individuals the branches are simply pinnate, the 

 pinnaj from half an inch to an inch long, erecto-patent with rounded axils, alter- 

 nate, at distances of the third of an inch apart, the upper ones somewhat opposite, 

 crenate at the apex, the lower ones more and more pinnatifid. Fertile specimens 

 are narrower, with subcylindrical lacinise. Coneeptades ovate, sessile, two or more 

 on the ultimate lacinia\ Tetraspores scattered toward the ends of the laciniae. 

 Colour a livid purple, becoming brownish in drying. Substance opaque, densely 

 cellular. It imperfectly adheres to paper. 



Dr. Coulter's numerous specimens are undistinguishable from some of my West 

 of Ireland examples, and I see no character by Avhich L. spectahilis P. and R. of 

 which I have examined an authentic specimen, can be separated from the common 

 L. pbmatijida, which is well known to be very variable in size and branching. 



2. Laurencia virgata, J. Ag. ; frond terete, pinnately branched ; the branches 

 spreading to all sides, opposite or verticillate, elongate, simple, racemoso-pinnated 

 with short secondary branches ; rarauli opposite or whorled, erect, simple or 

 corymboso-paniculate ; the tetrasporiferous ones clavato-cylindi'ical. J. Ag. Sp. 

 Alg. 2 p. 752. 



Hab. Monterey, California, Dr. Coulter, (v. v.) 



Dr. Coultei''s specimens are about six inches high. Several stems as thick as 

 sparrow's quill rise from a mat of branching fibres. They are generally bare of 

 branches at the base for an inch or two, and set above with closely crowded lateral 

 branches which are not strictly distichous in insertion. In the less divided speci- 

 mens, the branches are either naked and filiform, or somewhat pinnated ; in the 

 more compound they ai'e twice or thrice closely pinnated, the general outline being 

 pyi'amidal. The lower part of the frond is slightly compressed, its lesser divisions 

 more and more terete, and the ultimate pinnules cylindrical, remarkably truncate, 

 and slightly constricted at the base. Tetraspores are imbedded toward the ends of 

 the ramuli. Colour a very dark lurid purple, becoming still darker in drying. 

 Substance cartilaginous, and structure dense. 



I venture to refer the Californian specimens above described to the L. virgata J. 

 Ag. a species founded on individuals collected at the Cape of Good Hope. I have 

 compared them with Cape specimens, with which they agree in most points, and I 



