248 LAMINARIsE. PART n. 



most highly developed of the Dictyotese, are most abun- 

 dant in tropical and low latitudes. 



The Cutleria multifida is a small plant not exceeding 

 eight inches in length, of an olive green varied with 

 rusty tints. The frond is a flat ribless expansion many 

 times variously slit in the upper part. It is beautifully 

 marked by prominent dot-like tufts of fructification 

 scattered over both sides of the frond, and grows on 

 rocks and shells in from four to fifteen fathoms water. 7 



The great Laminarise form the principal part of those 

 vast submarine forests which encircle the globe in the 

 arctic and antarctic oceans. None of these gigantic 

 Algse are to be met with in low latitudes, but there are 

 several smaller species. The Laminaria debilis of the 

 Mediterranean is not more than five inches high, and 

 we have some ribbon-shaped species also of small size. 

 Besides, many small individuals of the large species grow 

 on our coasts at low water mark or below it ; but the 

 largest individuals are only found at depths suited to 

 their size, so that the great Laminaria, or tangle forests, 

 extend from low water mark to a depth of fifteen 

 fathoms. 



The fronds of these Algse are for the most part leathery 

 and of a fibro-cellular consistence. The Laminaria bul- 

 bosa is the largest of our sea weeds. Mr. Berkeley says 

 that individuals are sometimes found which are a 

 sufficient load for a man to carry. A flat stem, often 

 more than a foot long, rises with a twist from a round 

 hollow bulb a foot in diameter, throwing out numerous 

 stout fibrous roots below ; the stem is bordered Jby a thin 

 wavy membrane, whence these plants are commonly 

 called sea furbelows. At the top of the stalk there is 

 a broad leafy expansion cut into straps or segments, 

 twelve or more feet long, and from one to two feet 

 wide. 



7 Mrs. Gatty's ' British Sea Weeds.' 



