130 SEASIDE DIVINITY. 



Its colour is dark green, the substance is tough, 

 and the fronds long and narrow, and the air- 

 vessels large, round, and chiefly arranged in pairs, 

 and near the ends of the fronds are vesicles or 

 receptacles, large, swollen, and rilled with mucus. 

 This plant is extremely common on all rocky 

 shores. 



Another equally common species is the knotted 

 fucus. The stem of this plant is divided into 

 branches, which are forked, and the stem is 

 studded at intervals with large air-vessels. The 

 substance is tough and leathery ; the colour, olive- 

 green, and where exposed to the air and light, 

 nearly black. This plant frequently reaches six 

 feet in length. 



The Fucus serratus (or toothed or serrated 

 fucus) is destitute of air-vessels ; the receptacles 

 are flat, and placed at the^ends of the fronds; the 

 colour is dark olive-green. 



The tangle, or sea-girdle (Laminaria digi- 

 tata\ is another familiar species. Unlike the 

 species above referred to, which are found between 

 high and low water mark, this plant grows in 

 water of from seven to fifteen fathoms in depth, 

 and is rarely found in places from which the tide 

 recedes. From the roots attached to the rocks 

 shoots up a long stem, the summit of which 

 expands into a broad leaf or frond, divided into a 

 number of irregular strips. This plant is olive- 

 brown in colour. 



Another of the same class of plants is the sea- 

 lace (Chorda, filum). The fronds of this plant 



