194 THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 



Is found at Torquay ; also C. gracillimum growing along 

 the mud-covered base of the harbour. In fact, the collector 

 must often content himself with a handful of mud, showing 

 merely a few red filaments, and then on washing these 

 carefully he will find not only one, but perhaps many, 

 species of this lovely Sea- weed. 



CERAMIUM. 



Fourteen species are on the list of British Algae. 



The filaments are of varied colour, from red and purple 

 to white, jointed and dichotomous, which means regularly 

 and repeatedly cleft ; it has two kinds of fructification 



1, Capsules, with a membranous pericarp or outer skin, 

 containing numerous angular seeds. 



2, Oblong granules partly imbedded in the joints of the 

 filaments called favella. 



The name is from a Greek word signifying " little 

 pitcher" which the capsules nevertheless do not resemble. 



Ceramium botrycarpum is found in fruit from August to 

 November, with clusters of favellee on all the branches 

 most beautiful. Its chief habitat is Torquay and Bristol. 



Ceramium rubrum is common everywhere in tide-pools 

 between water-mark. 



PTILOTA PLUMOSA. 



This lovely little plant, rightly named Ptilota, from a 

 Greek word signifying "pinnated" from its innumerable 

 small branches or pinna, is one of our best preparations ; 

 for, even without the fruit, its cellular tissue being very 

 transparent, the cells containing the crimson endochrome 

 are distinctly seen, and render it a favorite object. The 

 stem is closely branched right and left with branchlets called 

 pinna, and these again cut into exceedingly fine divisions 

 called pinnula; at the tip of the latter we find the fructi- 

 :fication. This consists of two or three minute capsules 

 ^called favella, each of which contains three or four oval 

 : seeds, and they are themselves surrounded and apparently 

 protected by several linear segments bending over them. 

 When fresh-gathered for observation, these favetta are 



