Ser. Rhodospebme^. Fam. OryptonemiacecR. 



Plate LXXXV. 



GELINAMA ULVOIDEA, Sond^ 



Gen. Char. Frond thick and fleshy, flat, irregularly piimatifid, composed 

 of thi'ee strata ; the medullary of densely jmcked, interwoven, longitu- 

 dinal filaments ; the intermediate of several rows of roundish-angular 

 cellules ; the cortical of vertical, closely packed filaments. Fructifi- 

 cation unknown. — Gelinaria (Sond.), hom gelit, 'frost/ whence ^e/«- 

 tine, in allusion to the substance of this plant. 



Frons cartilagiueo-carnosa, plana, vage pinnatim composita, stratis tribus consti- 

 tiita ; strata medidlarl ex fills densissime implexis longitudiiudibns, inter- 

 media cellulis parvis pluriseriatis rotimdato-angidatis, corticali fills vertica- 

 libus crebris formato. Fructus ignotiis. 



Gelinaria ulvoidea, Sond. 



Gelinaria ulvoidea, Sond. In Mold and Sold. Bat. Zelt. 1845, jo. 55. Sond. 

 in Lelim. PI. Prelss. w. 2. jo. 172. /. Ag. Sp. Alg. v. 2.jo. 197. Harv. in 

 Trans. R. I. Acad. v. 22. p. 556. Marv. Jig. Exsic. n. 434. 



Halymenia ulvoidea, Kiltz. Sp. Alg. p. 718. 



Hab. Western Australia, Preiss. Treemantle, JF. H. H., G. Clifton. Also 



at King George's Sound, JF. H. H. 

 Geogr. Distr. West and south-west coasts of Australia. 



Uescr. Root a fleshy, expanded disc, nearly \ inch in diameter. Frond stipi- 

 tate ; the stipes compressed, 1-1|^ lines in diameter, firmly cartilaginous, 

 1-2 inches long, gradually expanding into the cuneate base of the frond. 

 Frond 1-2 feet long, and nearly as much in the expansion of the segments, 

 repeatedly divided and very irregularly on a pinnatifid type. The principal 

 axile segment or rachls is 1-2 inches broad, subsimple or forked, tapering 

 much to the base, and generally abrupt, but sometimes lanceolate at the 

 apex. This is closely or distantly pinnated with lateral, linear-lanceolate 

 branches, which in young specimens are simply toothed or inciso-dentate ; 

 in older, once or twice pinnatifid ; the pmnules acute, the younger ones su- 

 bulate, the older sublanceolate. In some specimens the branches are ^-1 

 inch broad, and but little divided ; in others ^-\ inch, and several times 

 compound, the ultimate lacinise being very narrow, ^o fruit has yet been 

 seen. The substance is very firmly fleshy and somewhat crisp, or cartila- 

 ginous when fresh ; soon becoming soft, and decomposing in fresh-water ; 

 when dry, gelatino-membranaceous, closely adhering to paper. The proper 

 colour is a full-lake, staining paper with a pinky tinge, but more commonly 

 the frond is tinted with livid-red or greenish, and finally the whole fades 

 to a dull, pale greenish-white. The surface has a peculiarly mottled appear- 

 ance, which is most obvious in the brightest-coloured specimens, and is 



