Ser. Rhodospermej;. Fam. Wrangeliacea. 



Plate CCXXIV. 



WRANGELIA MYRIOPHYLLOIDES, Haw. 



Gen. Char. Frond filiform, decompound, articulated, one-tubed ; the inter- 

 nodes naked or coated with minute cellules ; the nodes clothed with 

 opposite or whorled articulated ramelli. Fructification : 1, cystocarjjs 

 terminating short branches, involucrated by the uppermost whorled 

 ramelli, and consisting of tufts of pear-shaped pedicellate spores and 

 slender ^^aranemata ; 2, naked, triangularly parted tetraspores, borne 

 on the sides of the whorled ramelli. — Wrangelia {Ag,), in honour 

 of Baron Wrangel, a Swedish naturalist. 



FronsfiUformis, decomposlfa, articidata, monosijihonia, nuda v. cellulis corticata, 

 verticillis ramellonim ad genicula omista. Fruct.: 1, cystocarpia ramos ter- 

 mina?itia, ramellis stipreniis involucrata, fasciculis nunierosis sporarum pyri- 

 fonnium pedicellatarum et paranematibus tenuibiis constantia ; 2, tetrasporee 

 nuda, triangule divisce, ad ramellos sessiles. 



Wrangelia myriopltylloides ; frond rigid, pellucidly articulate from the 

 base, stupose below, pinnately branched; branches spreading, simple 

 or once again pinnate, whorled with ramelli round the nodes ; ramuli 

 repeatedly trichotomous, the subdivisions spreading, three-forked at 

 the point, apices very acute ; fruit unknown. 



W. myriophylloides ; fronde rigidiuscula e hasi articulata ecorticata inferne 

 stupom pinnatlm ramosa ; ramis patentibus simplicibus v. iterum pimiatis ad 

 genicula verticillatim ramellosis ; ramellis pluries tricJiotomis, divisuris paten- 

 tibus apice trifurcis acutissimis. 



Wrangelia myriophylloides, Harv. in Trans. R. I. Acad. v. 22. p. 546. 



Hab. On the larger Tucoids at Rottnest, JF. H. E. 



Geogr. Distr, West Australia. 



Descr. Root fibrous, creeping epiphytically. Fronds intricate at base, 4-5 

 inches long, setaceous, rigid, pellucidly articulate throughout, sparingly 

 branched ; the branches subsimple, virgate, 1-2 inches long, occasionally 

 with one or two secondary branches. Every node of the stem and branches 

 is whorled with several-times trichotomous ramelh, their divisions very pa- 

 tent or horizontal, each one ending in three oval cells, tipped by a minute, 

 acuminate, apical cellule. Articulations of the stem and branches many 

 times longer than broad, cylindrical ; those of the ramelli linear-oblong or 

 elliptical, constricted at the nodes. Fructification unknown. Colour a 

 pinky red, fading in fresh-water, and then turning brownish. Substance 

 firm and rigid, not soon deliquescing. In drying the frond adheres, but 

 not strongly, to paper. 



