Ser. RnoDOSPERMEiE. Fam. Ceramiace^t. 



Plate CCIX. 



PTILOCLADIA PULCHRA, Sond. 



Gen. Char. i^;-o?i!^/ compressed, pinnatelydecompountl, sponge-like, formed 

 of dichotomous, articulate, interwoven (and anastomosing ?) ramelli, 

 issuing from a central articulated axile filament; the apices of the 

 ramelli fastigiate, forming the periphery of the frond. Fructification : 



1, binate favella, immersed in the ultimate divisions of the frond ; 2, 

 tripartite tetraspores, attached to the peripheric ramelli. — Ptilocladia 

 [Soml.), from tttlXov, a feather or tving, and Kkaho'^, a branch ; 

 because the branches are pinuately compound. 



Frons compressa, pinnatim decomposita, spongiosa, contexta ramellis articulatis 

 dichotomis crehre intertextis (anastomosantibus ?) a filo centrali articidato 

 infra genicula ec/redientibns ; apicibus ramellonmi fastujiatls peripJieriam fron- 

 dis coustitaeiitibus. Fruct. : \,favell(B binatoe, in divisuris ultimis immersce ; 



2, teirasporce triangide dlvisee, ad ramellos periphericos ajfxce. 



Ptilocladia pulchra, Sond. 



Ptilocladia pulchra, Sond. in Mohl. and ScJil. Bot. Ze'it. 1845,/?. 52. PI. 

 Preiss. v. 2. p. 170. Kiitz. Sp. Jig. p. 674. /. Jg. Sp. Jig. v. 2. p. 112. 

 Harv. in Trans. R. I. Jcad. v. 22. j9. 557. Harv. Jig. Justr. Exsic. n. 434. 



Hab. Swan River, Preiss !, Backhouse ! Garden Island, W. Australia, 



W.H.H. Fremantle, G. Clifton (306). S. Austraha, Dr. Curdie. 

 Geogr. Distr. Western and southern coasts of Austraha. 



Descr. jRoo^ a mass of interwoven fibres. Fronds 4-6 inches high, 1-3 lines 

 in breadth, compressed, distichou sly much branched ; branches irregular, but 

 in a more or less pinnate order ; some specimens severtil tunes compounded 

 and closely branched and branchleted ; others distantly branched, with few 

 and short lesser branches. The texture of the frond is spougc-like, and it 

 is composed of a central, articulated filament or axis, which emits from the 

 centre of every joint numerous small horizontal ramelli. These ramelli are 

 dichotomous, many times forked, their branches elosely interlaced together 

 into the spongy mass of the frond, and seemingly here and there ana- 

 stomosing. The ramelli forming the shorter diameter (in section) of the 

 compressed frond are simply dichotomous; those that form the longer diameter 

 have a simple rachis, pinnated with dichotomous branches. Favellre, in 

 structure quite like those of CallitJtamnion, are borne in special processes of 

 the frond which stand out from the smaller pinnules, each on a short pedi- 

 cel ; but these processes are of the ordinary composition of the frond, though 

 homologically to be considered as involucres. Tetraspores are immersed 

 among the peripheric ramelli of other fronds, attached singly, here and 

 there, near the apex of a ramellus. Colour a full, deep red, fading on ex- 



