Ser. Melanosperme^. Fam. Sporochnoideae. 



Plate CIV. 



SPOROCHNUS COMOSUS, 4^. 



Gen. Chab. Frond filiform, solid, pinnatelj decompound. Receptacles 

 pod-shaped, pedicellate (rarely sessile), crowned with a tuft of soft 

 hairs, and densely covered with whorled, branching, sporiferous fila- 

 ments. Spores obovoid, attached to the sides of the filaments. — 

 Sporochnus {Ag.), from airopo'i, a seed, and %voo9, ^vool, because 

 tufts of soft hairs crown the fructification. 



Frons JUiformis, solida, pinnaUm ramosa. Receptacula siliquceformia, pedi- 

 cellata frarissime sessiliaj, apice comosa, paranematibus ramosis Jiorizontali- 

 bus verticillatis densissime vestita. Sporoe ohovoidece, ad paranemata laterales. 



Sporochnus comosus ; frond robust or slender, repeatedly decompound, 

 the branches and their divisions fihform, erecto-patent ; receptacles 

 clavato-cylindrical, twice as long as the pedicels. 



S. comosus ; fronde crassiuscula v. tenui repetite decomposita ; ramis primariis 

 secimdariisque Jiliforviibiis erecio-paientibus ; receptacuUs clavato-cyUndraceis 

 pedicello brevi subduplo triplove longioribus. 



Sporochnus comosus, Ag. Syst. Alg.p. 259. /. Ag. Sp. Alg. v. \. p. 174. 

 Kiitz. Sp. Alg.p. 569. ffa)-v. Alg. Exsic. Amir. n. 50; Trans. R. I. Acad. 

 V. 22. p. 534; FL Tasm. v. 2. p. 287. 



Hab. New Holland, 3Ius. Paris., fide Agardh. Fremantle and King 

 George's Sound, West Austraha. At Port Phillip Heads, Victoria ; 

 and at Georgetown, Tasmania, abundantly, W. H. H., etc. 



Geogr. Distr. West and south coasts of Australia. Tasmania. 



Descr. Root an expanded disc, covered with woolly hairs. Frond one to three 

 feet long or more, as thick as packthread at base, attenuated upwards, 

 setaceous near the extremity ; the lesser branches and ramuU almost capil- 

 lary. Stem sub-simple, densely set with long, lateral branches, which are 

 long and simple, but furnished, especially in their upper half, with secondary, 

 similar, but smaUer branches. In large specimens the subdivision is carried 

 to a greater extent. In all cases the branches taper much toward the ex- 

 tremity, and are terminated by a small tuft of soft hairs, about two lines in 

 diameter. Receptacles thickly set along the branches, spreading toward all 

 sides, cylindrical or shghtly clavate, very obtuse, scarcely tapering at base, 

 or abrupt ; twice or thrice as long as the pedicel, or 1-li times, or 5-6 

 times as long ; varying greatly in diflerent specimens. Colour when grow- 

 ing olivaceous, changing to greenish in the air and in fresh-water. Sub- 

 stance rather rigid in the stem ; softer in the branches. The frond adheres 

 pretty closely to paper in drying. 



