Ser. Rhodospermej;. Fam. Jthodymeniacem. 



Plate CXCVI. 



RHABDONIA CHAROIDES, Harv. 



Gen. Char. Frond filiform, decompound, imperfectly tubular ; tube partly 

 filled with longitudinal, branching and anastomosing filaments ; peri- 

 pheric stratum composed of polygonal cellules, smaller toward the cir- 

 cumference. Fnidijication : \, concejitacles immersed in the branches, 

 suspended among the axial filaments and enclosed in a network of fila- 

 ments, containing moniliform strings of spores, radiating from a cen- 

 tral placenta ; 2, zonate tetraspores dispersed through the superficial 

 stratum. — Ehabdonia {Harv.), from pa^8o<;, a twig ; in allusion to 

 the twiggy ramification of the species. 



Trons fiUformis, decomposite ramosa, tubtdosa ; tuhojilis longitudinalibm ramosis 

 anastomosantibus j)ercurso ; strato peripherico ex cellulis angulatis snpe7'ficiem 

 versus minoribus contexto. Fruct. : 1, cystocarpia infra stratum periphericum 

 suspeiisa, reticulo jilorum velata, carpostomio demum aperta, Jila sporifera 

 monilifonma a placenta centrali emissa continentia ; 2, tetrasporce zonatim 

 diviscB, per ramos minores sparsce, immersce. 



Rhabdonia charoides ; frond flaccid, ceespitose, constricted at intervals into 

 pseudo-joints, and whorled at the nodes with similarly constricted 

 branches, which are whorled with ramuli; internodcs of stem and 

 branches fusiform, echinulate ; ramuli taper-pointed, some occasionally 

 cirrhous. 



R. charoides ; fronde ccespitosa flaccida distanter articulato-constricta ad nodos 

 ramis pseudo-articulatis verticillata ; ramis ramulis verticillatis ; iuternodiis 

 fusiformibus echinulatis ; ramulis utrinque attenuatis acutis nunc cirrhiformibus. 



Erythkoclonium charoides, Harv. Alg. Austr. Exsic. n. 393, 



Hab. Port PhiUip Heads, W. H. H. 



Geogr. Distr. Southern coasts of Australia. 



Descr. Root matted. Fronds densely tufted, 3-5 inches long, terete, slender, 

 constricted at intervals of \-\ inch into spurious articulations, and whorled 

 at the node-hke constrictions with branches and ramuli. The branches are 

 themselves constricted at intervals and similarly whorled with lesser branches ; 

 and both large and small branches are at intervals whorled with slender, 

 fusiform, acute or acuminate ramuli. Some of the ramuli occasionally arc 

 drawn out into long, involute tendrils, which clasp any object within reach. 

 The periphery of the frond is composed of a single row of large cells, coated 

 externally with a narrow border of much smaller cellules ; the medullary 

 stratum is lax, composed of comparatively few filaments, without any axile 

 thread. No fruit has been noticed. The substance is soft, flaccid, and 



