46 



HALF AN HOUR WITH SEAWEEDS. 



Fig. 14. 



bright scarlet. They are so thin that they cling to 

 your fingers like a film when you attempt to lift 

 them out of the water, and they give the young 

 beginner infinite trouble in his endeavours to 

 arrange them in his herbarium. Abundant in 

 almost every rock-pool you will find the Plocamium 

 coccineum (Fig. 14), a weed with a beautiful crimson 



hue, which, as usual, soon 

 fades, and ultimately sub- 

 sides into a dirty white. 



Occasionally you may 

 stumble across a rarity or 

 two, such as the " Peacock," 

 or "Turkey-feather" laver 

 (Padina pavonia), growing 

 where it can enjoy the full 

 light and heat of the sun. 

 This is one of the most 

 charming of all our sea- 

 weeds, and from its varying 

 tints well deserves the name 

 of " Peacock." Nitopliyllum 

 punctatum is also a hand- 

 some plant, which can easily be distinguished from 

 the Delesseria, to which it bears some resemblance, 

 by the absence of a mid-rib. Its colour is of a deli- 

 cate crimson hue. The "Carrageen," or "Irish" 

 moss (Chondrus crispus, Fig. 15), is well known from 

 its supposed medicinal powers. Although it is 

 included among the Khodosperms, it is often of a 



Plocammm coccineum. 



