Howe : Phycological studies 85 



I 



persisting, soon strongly calcified and more or less coherent in well 

 separated, often somewhat divergent or reflexed transverse rings or 



bands of 2 



dry 



conspicuous orifices about So /i in diameter, thickness of the lime- 

 sheaths usually less than half the diameter of the branch ; mature 

 corticated plants sometimes reverting toward the apex and bearing 

 there whorls of filamentous non-corticating branches ; branches of 

 the fir^t order of the mature stage cylindrical or clavate, 275-400// 

 long, 40-72// in diameter in their basal and median parts, mostly 

 4-9 times as long as their median diameter, moderately and rather 

 diffusely calcified, scarcely coherent, persistent : branches of the 

 second order capitate, the terminal inflations 100--220 fx Jn greatest 

 diameter, outwardly mammiform, subconical. or subrostrate, their 

 walls thin, very mucilaginous, and often not easily visible after de- 

 calcification, the pedicels scarcely calcified, the terminal inflations 

 strongly calcified throughout their entire surface, proximally, later- 

 ally, and distally, the lime-coating of the outer surface soon flaking 

 off, usually persisting a little longer than the hairs : sporangia 

 strongly calcified but mutually free, commonly appearing within 

 2-6 mm. from base of adult plant, 178-215 // long (decalcified and 

 including stalk), the calcareous capsule 20-55 />« thick; spores 

 obovoid, 140-160// X 104-121 //, their width usually | to | their 



length. [Plate i, figure 5 ; plate 5, figures 1-14." 



Growing on moderately exposed rocks, at and near low-water 

 mark, usually associated with Neomeris Cokeri and sometimes 

 also with N. annul at a : Atwood (Samana) Cay, Bahamas, Hoive, 

 5308 (type); Cockburn Harbor, South Caicos, Howe 554-8; 



How 



Neomei 



other known species of the genus in the extremely gelatinous 

 diaphanous character of its membranes, particularly those of the 

 corticating utricles. After decalcification it is often difficult to 

 trace the outlines of the various members of the plant-body, with 

 the exception of the sporangia. From A^. dumetosa, it differs, 

 furthermore, in being a shorter and relatively stouter plant (8-20 

 mm, vs. 20-32 mm. long; 4-8 times tx 15-20 times as long as 

 thick), in the shorter and stouter primary branches (275-400 /x 

 vs. 500-680/^ long; 4-7 times vs. 18-35 times as long as their 

 median diameter), which are persistent and scarcely cohere \x\ 

 scales if we except those that belong to the earlier phases of 

 development (and even then the coherence is of a different sort), 



