159 



Alaska says that it occurs "in the elittoral zone off rocky points 

 and in unprotected places." Setchell and Gardner (loc. cit.) 

 say that they "have never found it growing in over 12 or 15 

 fathoms of water." 



During the summers of 191 1 and 1912 the writer visited, in 

 the course of his work as special agent of the United States 

 Department of Agriculture, practically all portions of the Amer- 

 ican shore of the Puget Sound region along which the conditions 

 are at all suitable for the growth of large kelps. He has not 

 been able to find Macrocystis growing anywhere in Puget Sound 

 proper or in the American waters of the Strait of Georgia, or 

 among the San Juan Islands. That is, he has not found it 

 growing anywhere inside of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. This 

 agrees with Setchell and Gardner's report. 



Along the American shore of the Strait of Juan de Fuca the 

 writer found extensive beds of Macrocystis pyrifera extending 

 from Low Point to Cape Flattery — a distance of about 35 nautical 

 miles. Low Point is at the mouth of the Lyre river a short 

 distance west of Port Crescent, Washington. 



In practically all cases, the beds of Macrocystis border those of 

 Nereocystis and are nearer shore and hence in a little shallower 

 water than the beds of Nereocystis. The longest specimens 

 found measured 40 feet. Since the plants so measured reached 

 the surface even at high tide and no specimens were measured 

 unless they included the holdfast, it is evident, that the plant 

 does not in this region grow to a depth of water at all approaching 

 the maximum reported by Setchell and Gardner. The writer 

 has not found a statement as to the minimum depth of water in 

 which this species grows. 



In the course of investigating the kelps of the Pacific Coast as a 

 source of potash fertilizer, interest has been focused largely on 

 Macrocystis pyrifera, Nereocystis luetkeana, and Pelagophycus 

 'porra because these are the three largest species found in the 

 region and are all provided with floats that keep them at the 

 surface of the water so that they may be harvested by machinery 

 on a large scale. 



University of Washington 



