50 KEW SPECIES OF AOAEICUS FROM KEBGUELF-N ISLAND. 



tres superficielluraent canalioiilc, ot marj^inc " (Gr. & Godr., p. 40). 

 " plans en deasus, mais bortU's do clia([iio cote d'lino cote saillante " 

 (Her. I.e.) respectively. Finally, Bal)inf;;ton, whose lan<Tua?;c is perhaps 

 intentionally harmonised with that of Continental writers, describes the 

 petioles of it. IT>/drolapathum as " fiat but not with raised edf];es," and 

 those of i2. ntaximus an " flat or broadly channelled above with raised 

 edges." 



The difference in the shape of the Icaf-atalk is sufficiently evident 

 in the dried specimens that 1 have been able to examine. The petioles 

 of it. maxinnis appear to be more quadrangular in their section, and 

 to be more deeply stiiated, or rather channelled, and at more irregular 

 intervals than in it. IlydroJapathwn ; they seem also to be firmer in 

 their substance, and do not yield so completely to pressure, but retain 

 more of their original form than is the case with the other plant. 

 A Swedish specimen in the Museum herbarium, from the province of 

 Upland, collected by Ahlberg, and labelled It. IlydrolapatJmm, has 

 quite the petiole-characters here indicated for R. maximus ; the 

 panicle is altogether immature, and does not offer any distinctive 

 features. There is a certain amount of emphasis in the language 

 employed by Koch, which seems to preclude any hesitation as to the 

 solidity and permanence of the distinc^tion advanced, and whatever 

 may bo thought of the value of the character as a specific test, it 

 seems to be well worthy of the attention of British botanists in the living 

 plant, whether the two forms thus separated prove to be invariably 

 distinguishable from each other, or whether, as is perhaps more prob- 

 able, the extremes are connected by a graduated series of inter- 

 mediates. It is worth mentioning that from this point of view Mr. 

 Warren's Lewes specimens are entirely it. maximiia. 



NOTICE OF SOME MARINE ALG^ FROM KERGUELEN 



ISLAND. 

 By G. Dickie, M.D., F.L.S. 



Thk marine Algfc ibund by the Rev. A. E. Eaton at Kerguelen 

 amount in all to 54 sp(!cies. He has therefore added consideral)ly to the 

 number — 37 — mentioned in the Antarctic Flora. A full report of his 

 very excellent collection will be given afterwards. I desire in the 

 meantime to notice briefly a few which appear to me to be un- 

 described. 



Sphacelaria corymbosa, n. sp. — Estupose, densely c£Bspitose, below 

 sparingly and dichotomously branched ; upwards, the branclies are 

 alternate, subpinnate, and corymbose. The specimens attain a height 

 of two to three inches ; no reproductive organs to be seen. 



Sphacelaria affinis, u. sp. — Densely cajspitose, erect, sparingly 

 dichotomous; fruit solitary, obovat(>, and shortly pedicellate. Half an 

 inch in height. 



