Ser. RiiODOsrEiiMEj;. Fam. Gelidiacea. 



Plate CCIV. 



GELIDIUM PROLIFERUM, iiarv. 



Gen. Char. Frond firmly cartilaginous, linear^ compressed, decompound- 

 piiiuate, composed of three strata ; the medullary stratum of densely 

 packed, interwoven, longitudilial filaments ; the intermediate of poly- 

 gonal cells ; the cortical of minute, coloured cellules, arranged in hori- 

 zontal, moniliform series. Fructification: 1, bilocular conceptacles 

 immersed in the ramuli, containing, within a thick pericarp, pedicel- 

 late, pear-shaped spores, dispersed over both surfaces of a medial dis- 

 sepiment, which is united to the pericarp by slender filaments; 2, 

 cruciate tetraspores, forming sori in dilated ramuli. — Gelidium 

 {Lam.), from gelu, frost, whence also gelaiine ; but none of the spe- 

 cies are gelatinous. 



Frons corneo-cariilaginea, linearis, anceps, pinnatim decomposita, tribus stratis 

 cellularum contexta ; medidlari ex filis tenuihns intertextis loti(/itndinalibus, 

 intermedio ex cellulis polygonis, corticali ex celluUs mimitis coloratis in fila 

 hoi'izontalia brevissima seriatls composito. Fruct. : 1, cystocarpia bilocularia 

 in ramiiUs immersa, ad dissepimentum long itiidinale fills tenuihns cum peri- 

 carpio ci'asso junctiim, sporas suhpyriformes sparsas pedicellatas foventia. 



Gelidium j)roliferum ; frond semiterete and very robust below, piano- 

 compressed or flattened upwards, decompoundly pinnate and prolife- 

 rous, densely muricated with minute bristle-like points, which after- 

 wards become leafy; pinnae and pinnules broadly linear, flat; pinnules 

 erecto-patent, subopposite ; cystocarps terminating slender, filiform, 

 or flattened, simple or pinnulated processes of the pinnules. 



G. proliferurn ; fronde inferne semitereti crassissima, superne compresso-plana v. 

 applanata decomposite pinnata et proUfera, setls mimitis demum foUaceis den- 

 sissime wnricata ; pinnis pinmdisqne lato-Vmearihus planis, pimmlis erecto- 

 patentibns suboppositis ; cystocarpiis processus filif or mes simplices v. pinnatos e 

 pinnuUs emissos terminantibus. 



Gelidium proliferurn, Harv. in Trans. R. I. Acad. v. 22. p. 551. Ilarv. Alg. 

 Exsic. Austr. n. 336. 



Hab. Cast ashore, after storms, at Tremantle, Western Australia, Mylne, 



Backhouse, W. IL II. 

 (Jkogr. Distr. West coast of Australia. 



Descr. Root brandling. Frond 12-18 inches long, very robust; the main 

 stem nearly cylindrical at base, and often \-\ inch in diameter, very hard 



