MARINE ALGM OF BEAUFORT, N. C. 373 



In the preparation of the present report three objects have been kept in view: 

 (i) Only occasional collections have previously been made on the coast of our southern 

 States. While the algal flora of New England and Long Island has been studied with 

 some thoroughness and the Florida coast has received considerable attention, the area 

 between these regions has been almost untouched in recent years. Although the present 

 work makes no pretense of being a taxonomic contribution, the effort has been made 

 to present as complete an account as possible of the algal flora of the region, with 

 remarks on species affording interesting comparisons with the same species found in 

 other regions. (2) Little is known of the conditions of algal growth and of the factors 

 limiting their distribution in space and in time. Notes have been made on the con- 

 ditions observed at Beaufort, and some interesting effects of these conditions have 

 been recorded. It would be desirable to have a detailed and thorough study of the con- 

 ditions made here. . (3) No work suitable for American collectors who are not trained 

 students of algae has appeared in recent years, and no such work has ever been written for 

 the algse of our southern coast. Although this lack has been partly filled by Collins's ex- 

 cellent treatment of the Chlorophyceae (1909, 1912, 1918) and key (igiSa) and Miss Til- 

 den's work on the Myxophycese of North America (1910) , the need still exists for a special 

 account of the algae of this region. With this object in mind, the present report has 

 been written as simply as possible. Technical terms have been avoided whenever the 

 meaning could be expressed otherwise without too. great circumlocution and without 

 sacrifice of accuracy. Nearly every species has been illustrated by a photograph or 

 drawing, since an illustration will often give, to one not a special student of the algae 

 and even to the trained algologist, a better idea of the species than pages of description. 

 Two keys have been prepared, one (an artificial key to genera) based as far as possible 

 on superficial, easily observed characters, the other (a natural key to divisions, orders, 

 etc.) showing the diagnostic characters which warrant the placing of the different forms 

 in their respective groups. 



All photographs and, except where otherwise stated, all drawings are original, 

 nearly all the photographs being made from living plants arid all the drawings being 

 made with a camera lucida. In the descriptions of the various groups and in the 

 natural key free use has been made of current works, especially those of Engler and 

 Prantl (1897-1911), De Toni (1889-1907), and Collins (1909, 1912). The descriptions 

 of the species, however, are based in part on specimens observed by the author, includ- 

 ing those found at Beaufort and those in American herbaria which were accessible to 

 him. In using the artificial key to genera and the keys to species, it should be borne 

 in mind that these have been prepared for the particular genera and species mentioned 

 in this work, and if used for algae of other regions may lead the student astray. Even 

 in this region these keys may cause confusion if genera and species other than those 

 mentioned should be found. A collector should, therefore, always carefully compare 

 his specimens with the descriptions before venturing to assign them names. The gross 

 measurements of the size of species should not be taken too strictly, the figures given 

 being the limits of specimens observed by the author or for which a record has been seen. 



It will be noticed that the descriptions of many of the species are incomplete in 

 that no mention is made of male plants or organs. This "is due to our imperfect 

 knowledge of these plants, since, partly because of their inconspicuousness and partly 

 because of their greater scarcity, male plants and organs have been studied much less 



