THE ALGAE OF VICTORIA. 495 
way. Another order of Alga that is much used in Western Europe 
as food was well represented in the seadrift, namely, U/vacew. One 
of these, Posphyra vulgaris (or purple laver), is exactly the same 
species that is used so much on the west coasts of Ireland and 
England on account of its gelatinous character, and “those who 
have acquired a taste for it,” says Shirley Hibberd, “ declare it to 
be delicious, especially when served with lemon juice.” 
This Posphyra vulgaris was lying in great quantities on the 
shore, along with a green variety, Ulva latissima. This last-men- 
tioned seaweed is also prepared and eaten in the same way as P, 
vulgaris. It would be useless to go through the list of species 
noted on that memorable morning; indeed the writer was for- 
tunate enough to be present on several similar occasions, and was 
thus enabled to secure an immense number of specimens with 
comparative ease. 
On the west side of the Western Port Heads there is a long 
narrow peninsula called Flinders, bounded on one side by Western 
Port Bay, and on the other by Bass Straits ; it ends in what is 
called West Head. This is a happy hunting-ground fora seaweed 
collector. On the Straits side, when the tide is out, may be found 
the seaweeds in their natural home, fastened to the rocks, either 
in basins or pools left by the returning tide, or high and almost 
dry under the fierce rays of the summer sun. It is interesting to 
watch the incoming tide rushing over the apparently dying plants. 
At first a languid movement may be observed, getting more natural 
with every succeeding wave, until by the time they are completely 
submerged the plants are as bright in ‘their appearance and as 
graceful in their movements as if they had never been uncovered. 
The green hair-like tufts of Cladophora, Chetophora, and Entero- 
morpha, the bright green membraneous U/va, and here and there 
the delicate feathery Bryopsis plumosa may be seen lining the 
sides of the pools. Everywhere is to be found Hormosira Banksti 
—in fact you must tread on their elastic bladders as you step from 
rock to rock. Cystophora are also very plentiful. Under the 
iarger olive and brown seaweeds Polysiphonias, Ceramiurnus and 
Laurentias may be seen with their red fronds glittering in the 
sunlight. Two Zosterias are so common in the shallow pools as 
to be especially noticeable, namely, Zos. tasmanica, with its grass- 
like leaves often entirely covering the sandy bottom, and Cymo- 
dacea zosterifolia, which is sometimes seen growing in the sandy 
bottoms of pools, whence it is easily extracted, and its long creeping 
rhizomes can be examined ; but it often grows on the rocky sides, 
from whence it is almost impossible to move it without destroying it. 
Although these plants are true phanerogams in their structure and 
mode of reproduction, still their constant occurrence in our tide 
pools requires them to be mentioned. Again, on the long stems of 
Cymodacea which often attain a length of from 12 to 20 feet, may 
