300 FLORA OF TASMANIA. [Alge, by W. H. Harvey. 
Has. East coast, R. Gunn. 
Fronds 4-6 inches high, not densely tufted, repeatedly dichotomous from the base, the lower axils very 
patent ; cartilaginous, and thickly coated with secondary cells in the lower part, softer and more pellucid above, 
and at the ends of the branches flaccid, much attenuated and pellucid. Artieulations short in all parts of the frond, 
only equalling their diameter toward the ends of the young branches, four-tubed. The lower articulations are more 
or less obliterated, being covered externally with several rows of accessory cells. Colour a dingy reddish-brown 
when dry. Substance rigid, the tips only adhering to paper. 
Our specimens are few, and not in first-rate order. 
8. Polysiphonia laxa; fronde setacea elongata rigidiuscula rufescente angulatim flexuosa laxe 
ramosa, ramis primariis patentibus paucis elongatis varie divisis, secundariis brevibus divaricato-patentibus 
alternis v. sepe secundis subsimplicibus v. lateraliter ramulosis, ramulis paucissimis setaceis, articulis 
¿etrasiphoniis ecorticatis mediis diametro 3-4-plo superioribus duplo longioribus ultimis diametro «qualibus. 
Has. Tasmania, R. Gunn. 
Frond upwards of a foot long, as thick as hog's-bristle, very laxly branched, the branches distant, zigzag-bent, 
throwing off branchlets at the angles; the principal branches several inches long, variously set with short lateral 
branches, which are often secund, subsimple, slightly branched, or having a few setaceous ramuli. All the ramifica- 
tion is remarkably patent. The substance is somewhat rigid, and the plant does not closely adhere to paper. 
We have only seen a solitary specimen, which is very dissimilar in character to any Australian species known 
to us. It is attached to a fragment of Zostera. 
9. Polysiphonia succulenta; fronde badia gelatinoso-cartilaginea ultrasetacea sensim attenuata 
apice flaccida dichotome ramosissima, ramis lateralibus irregulariter dichotomis v. multipartitis, ultimis in 
ramulos fascieulatos multifidos desinentibus, articulis ecorticatis tetrasiphoniis mediis diametro subtriplo 
longioribus superioribus brevioribus ultimis diametro eegualibus, tetrasporis in ramulis nidulantibus. 
Has. Georgetown, on Zostera, R. Gunn. (Oct. 1848.) 
We have only seen a single specimen. It resembles a large and coarsely-grown P. mollis, but the frond is 
much more robust and succulent than in that species, and the habit more flabelliform, with dense fasciculato- 
multifid terminal ramuli. Frond 6 inches high, much branched from the base, the branches dichotomous. Colour 
when dry a rich dark-brown. Substance somewhat similar to that of Griffithsia secundiflora. 
10. Polysiphonia vagabunda (Harv.); cespitibus minutis globosis (natantibus) roseis siccitate 
fuscescentibus, frondibus pusillis intricatis vage ramosis, ramis elongatis horizontalibus v. divaricatis 
arcuatis, ramulis paucis sepe secundis divaricatis, articulis tetrasiphoniis diametro sequalibus.—Harv. Alg. 
Austr. Ersic. n. 183. 
Has. Floating in the sea, at Eagle Hawk Neck, W. H. H. 
This curious little species occurred in such immense quantity as to colour the sea for a considerable distance 
round the shore, each wave, as it rolled in, appearing as if thickened with raspberry jam. The mass, when examined, 
proved to be composed of innumerable minute, spherical tufts, each about two lines in diameter, composed of fila- 
ments intricately woven together, very irregularly branched, the branching remarkably divaricate. At an earlier 
stage, probably, the plant was attached, but when found it appeared in full life, and not a mere waif of the sea; 
and 1 was informed by a gentleman resident at the Neck that he had repeatedly noticed the waves, in that part of 
the bay, to be similarly filled with this little plant. 
SUBGENUS 2. POLYSIPHONIA. 
11. Polysiphonia cancellata (Harv. Lond. Journ. iii. p. 440; Harv. Ner. Austr. p. 51. t. 15). 
