Cunninghamiane. N. O. ‘Alge. 
TABS. DX Vil.—DX VIII. 
THauMAsiA? CuNNINGHAMI. 
Gen. Cuar. Frons membranacea sordide rubra, costis comeis, 
rigidis articulatis reticulatis percursa. Endl. N. 103. 
Thaumasia Cunninghami; fronde corned ramosissima, ramis 
alternis alatis hic illic anastomosantibus, ramulis bifidis spine- 
formibus patentibus marginatis, axillis rotundatis. 
Has. On the shores of New Zealand. Allan Cunningham, Esq. 
in Herb. Heward. 
Frond 12-14 inches long, divided from the base in an irre- 
‘gular manner, into several principal branches, whose lesser 
divisions anastomose together. The branches are furnished 
with a cylindrical midrib, composed of a very dense, horny, 
semi-transparent substance, perfectly continuous, and_ scarcely 
exhibiting a cellular structure to the microscope, but apparently 
composed of concentric layers of glue. The margin, or frond, 
is of a much thinner and more gelatinous composition, but 
seems to be of similar structure. Here and there an areole, 
formed by the anastomosing branches, is filled up by this mem- 
brane. This production is one of those anomalous ones that it 
is difficult to find an appropriate place for in the system ; and I 
am doubtful if it can be consistently referred to Thaumasid, 
though it appears to approach that equally doubtful genus, 
more nearly than to any other. There is one principal differ- 
ence, however :—the skeleton is inarticulate. The European 
genus, Alcyonidium, does not appear to be far removed ; and 
the reasons which induced me in the British Flora to reject that 
genus from the Vegetable Kingdom, apply with equal force t0 
our present subject—W. H. Harvey. 
: Fig. 1. Portion of the plant :—magnified. 
