Ser. RiiODospERME^E. Fam. Ceramiaceoi. 



Plate CCIIL 



GRIFFITHSIA OVALIS, Haw. 



Gen. Char. Frond filiform, dichotomous, articulated, inonosiplionous, 

 naked. Fructification : \, involucratc favella, containing numerous 

 angular spores; 2, tetraspores attached to the inner faces of invo- 

 lucral ramcUi, globose, triangularly parted. — Griffithsia {Ag.), in 

 honour of the late Mrs. Griffiths, of Torquay', Devonshire. 



Frons Jiliformis, dichotoma, articulata, monosiphorda, ecorlicata. Fruct. : 1, 

 favellee involucralcE sporas numerosas anc/ulatas foventes ; 2, tatrasporcp, tri- 

 aiigule divisce interiore latere involucri, ramellis pliiribus condituli seriatce. 



Grifpithsia ovalis; frond erect (1-2 inches high), di-trichotomous, sub- 

 fastigiate, very robust ; branches erecto-patent ; articulations 3— i 

 times longer than the diameter, the lower clavate, the middle and 

 upper obovate, inflated, much constricted at the ends ; fertile articu- 

 lations similar; involucres of tetraspores composed of very minute 

 ramelli, whorled round the dissepiments. 



G. ovalis ; froiide erecla (sub-biunclali) di-tricholoma suhfastigiata crassissima ; 

 ramis erecto-patentihus ; articulls diametro B-4<-plo longioribus, inferioribus 

 clavatis, mediis siqjerioribusque obovatis inflatis ad genicula maxlme con- 

 strictis, fert'dibns conformibus ; involucris Idrasporarum circa genicula verti- 

 cillatis e ramellis minimis conjlatis. 



Griffithsia ovalis, Harv. in Trans. R. I. Acad. v. 22. jo. 559. 



Hab. On Zosiera, at King George's Sound, W. II. H. 



Geogr. Distr. Western Austraha. 



Descr. Root discoid. Frondn sul)Solitary, scattered, 1-2 inches high, flabclli- 

 form, subfastigiate, dichotoniously or subtrichotomously branched, the 

 branches erecto-patent, the upper ones pretty regularly dichotomous. Arti- 

 cidations 3-4 times as long as broad, the larger ones \\ lines in diameter, 

 inflated, very much constricted at the nodes ; the lower ones club-shaped or 

 pyriform, the middle obovate or oblong, the upper more exactly oval, the 

 terminal at first globose, then oval. Livoluci'ex whorled round the upper 

 nodes, not on separate ramuli ; involucral ramelli very minute, of few cells, 

 bearing large tetraspores at their tips. Tetraspores globose, with wide 

 borders. Colour a very pale red, fading to horn-colour. The membrane 

 (or cell-wall) of the articulations is very thin, and not so gelatinous as in 

 most species of Griffdhsia. The substance is soft, and the frond, in drying, 

 closely adheres to paper. 



