180 ALGJE MELANOSPERMEA:. 



On the western coasts, not rare. 39 inches high, slender, the 

 whorls of ramuli rather distant, by which character it is chiefly dis- 

 tinguished from the following. 



2. C. spongiosus, Ag. Sponge-like Cladostephus. Ramuli 

 irregularly whorled, imbricated, mostly simple ; branches thick 

 and clumsy. Harv. in Hook. Br. Fl. v. ii. p. 323. Cowf. 

 spong. E. Bot. t 2427. /. 1. 



Marine rock?, common. 3 4 inches high, dark olive brown. 



21. SPHACELARIA. Lyngb. Sphacelaria. 



Filaments jointed, branches distichous, pinnated, rarely dicho- 

 tomous, rigid. Fruct. double, on the same individual : 



1. ovato-sphaerical capsules, furnished with a terminal pore ; 



2. a granular mass, inclosed in the hyaline vesicated apices 

 of the branches. Name; 20a/ce\o5, gangrene; from the 

 withered distended apices. 



1. S. filicina, Ag. Ferny Sphacelaria. Stuppose at the 

 base ; branches lanceolate, decomposite, pinnate ; pinnae alter- 

 nate ; pinnules fasciculato-multifid. Br. Fl. v. ii. p. 323. Ag. 

 Sp. Alg. v. 2. p. 22. S. hypnoides, Grev. Crypt. Fl. t. 348. 



In the sea, very rare. Bangor, County of Down ; Mr. W. Thompson. 



2. S. scoparia, Lyngb. Broom-like, Sphacelaria. Dark 

 brown, coarse, lower part shaggy with woolly fibres ; upper 

 branches once or twice pinnate ; pinnae erecto-patent, subulate, 

 alternate, the lower ones slightly divided. Harv. in Hook. Br. 

 Fl. v.i\. p. 323. Dillw. t. 62. S. disticha, Lyngb. Harv. in 

 Hook. Br. Fl. I. c. E. Bot. t. 1552. 



Rare on our shores. Killiney and Wicklow ; W. H. Harvey. 

 The winter and summer states of this species are so very unlike each 

 other, that I formerly mistook them for distinct species, and published 

 them as such in Dr. Hooker's British Flora. Since that work was 

 printed, I have received numerous specimens, in every state of transi- 

 tion, from my kind friends Mrs. Griffiths and Miss Cutler ; arid I am 

 now fully convinced that the S. disticha of the British Flora is only 

 the autumnal or winter state of S. scoparia. 



3. S. plumosa, Lyngb. Feathery Sphacelaria. Filaments 

 elongated, naked at base, branched, inarticulate, pinnate ; pinnae 

 opposite, very close, simple, pectinated, elongated, erecto- 

 patent. Harv. in Hook. Br. Fl. v. ii. p. 324. Conf. pinnata. 

 E. Bot. t. 2330. (left hand fig.) 



Rocky coasts, rare. Wicklow ; W. H. Harvey. 24 inches high, 

 the branches resembling delicate feathers : colour greenish-olive. 



4. S. cirrJiosa, Ag. Small pinnate Sphacelaria. Filaments 

 short, naked at the base, densely tufted, articulated throughout, 

 pinnate ; pinnae alternate or irregular. Harv. in Hook, Br. FL 

 v. ii. p. 324. Conf. pinnata. Dillw. t. 86. E. Bot. t. 2330. 

 (right hand fig.) 



