2-3 lines ; in this case several branches spring, in a palmate manner, from 

 the flattened portion. The branches are flexuous or zigzag, either several 

 times forked or trifid or secundly divided, but always very widely spread- 

 ing, with broad rounded axils. The smaller branches are more frequently 

 palraatifid than the larger. The alternate ramuli are generally secund, 

 often 1-1 1 inches long, tapering from a broad base to a fine point. (The 

 specimens from King George's Sound differ from the normal state of the 

 species in being more pinnately branched and much more strongly com- 

 pressed, and may perhaps belong to a different species.) The conceptacles 

 are prominently conoidal, abundantly scattered along the branches and 

 ramuli of fertile specimens at distances of about \ inch, and are generally 

 secund. The colour is a clear rosy-red, preserved in drying. The substance 

 is soft, more fleshy than cartilaginous, succulent and tender ; and the plant 

 shrinks in drying, and adheres firmly to paper. 



As far as Australian Algae are concerned, this species may 

 be readily known from its congeners by its bright colour and 

 compressed frond. But it is not so easy to point out good ex- 

 ternal characters by which it may be known from G. compressa 

 of Europe. The internal cellular structure is however some- 

 what different, the cortical layer in the present species being 

 much thinner and generally composed of but one or at most 

 two rows of cellules. The ramification is a good deal varied. 

 The tendency to ^^o^vs^id finger -like (or rather palmatifid) branches 

 is sometimes greater than on the specimens here drawn ; and 

 specimens producing conceptacles are often strikingly zigzag, 

 the branch suddenly bending where the conceptacle is seated. 



It is not uncommon at Fremantle and Rottnest. The speci- 

 mens from King George's Sound, above alluded to, are some- 

 what different, and may possibly belong to a distinct species. 

 At present I retain them, undescribed, for further evidence. 



Fig. 1. Gracilaria dactyloides, — tJie natural size. 2. Portion of a fertile 

 frond, with conceptacles. 3. Section through branch and conceptacle. 4. 

 Spores. 5. Section through branch with fe^ras/iores. 6. A tetraspore : — 

 the latter figures variously magnified. 



