Ser. Chlorosperme/e. Fam. Siphonacea. 



Plate CLXXII. 



CAULERPA PARVIFOLIA, iiarv. 



Gen. Char. Frond consisting of prostrate surculi, rooting from their 

 lower surface, and throwing up erect branches (or secondary fronds) 

 of various shapes. Substance horny-membranous, destitute of cal- 

 careous matter. Structure unicellular, the cell continuous, strength- 

 ened internally by a spongy network of anastomosing filaments, and 

 filled with semifluid, grumous matter. Fructification unknown. — 

 Caulerpa [Lamx.), from Kav\o<;, a stem, and epirm, to creep. 



Frons ex sarcuUs prostratis liic illic radicantibiis et ramis erectis polymorpJiis 

 formata. Substantia corneo-membranacea. Structura unicellulosa, cellulce 

 mevibrana contlnua hyal'ma intus fills cai'tilagineis teniiissimis anastomosanti- 

 bmfirmata et endocJiromate denso viridi repleta. Fr. ignota. 



Caulerpa parvifolia ; surculus setaceous, glabrous ; fronds erect, simple 

 or forked, linear-strapshaped, very entire, obtuse or emarginate, ta- 

 pering at base into a very short stipes, obsoletely costate. 

 C. parvifolia ; surculo setaceo glabra ; frondibiis erectis simplicibus furcatisve 

 brevissime stipitatis Vmeari-ligulatis integerrimis obtusis v. subemarginatis ob- 

 soletissime costatis. 

 Caulerpa parvifolia, Harv. Alg. Austr. Exsic. n. 548. 



Hab. Kiama, New South Wales, in crevices of tidal rocks, W. H. H. 



Geogr. Distr. East coast of Australia. 



Descr. Surculus 2-4 inches long, scarcely as thick as hog's-bristle, glabrous, 

 emitting a few slender, slightly branched rootlets. Fronds one or two 

 inches long, 1-H line wide, quite flat, glabrous, perfectly entire, linear, 

 blunt, raised on a minute stipes, which is rarely more than one or two lines 

 long, either quite simple or once forked, occasionally proliferous from the 

 summit. A faint medial hne, simulating a nerve, is more or less visible, 

 especially in the dried specimens. The colour is a dark sap-green, with a 

 yellowish tinge towards the extremities. The substance is membranous and 

 glossy, and tolerably soft, and in drying the frond adheres to paper. 



One of the smallest species of the extensive genus Caulerpa, 

 allied on the one hand to C. prolifera, and on the other to C. 

 anceps, an unpublished species, from the Priendly Islands. The 

 membrane in C. parvifolia is much thinner and more delicate 



