82 LAMINARIACE^. iv. 



Fucacece, are of mucli larger dimensions. The number of species under twelve 

 inches in length is very small ; almost all, when mature, exceed twelve feet in 

 length, and when we light upon the real giants of the Order, the frond is measured 

 by fathoms and not by feet. The ordinary Oarweeds, Tangle, BeviVs-apron and Sea- 

 colander of the American shores, which are familiar examples of these plants, are 

 frequently seen ten, twelve, or even twenty feet in length, with immense fronds or 

 aprons terminating their stems ; but these are mediocre indeed, compared to some 

 of their co-ordinals in the Pacific. The JSfereocystis of the North West Coast is said, 

 when fully grown, to have a stem measuring 300 feet in length, which bears at its 

 summit a huge air-vessel, six or seven feet long shaped like a great cask, and 

 ending in a tuft of upwards of fifty forked leaves, each of which is from thirty to 

 forty feet in length. The cask-like air-vessel buoys up this immense frond, which, 

 like Milton's hero, lies 



Prone on the flood, extended long and large, 

 (And) floating many a rood. — 



Here the Sea Otter {Lutra marina) has his favourite lair, resting himself on the 

 vesicle, or hiding among the leaves while he pursues his fishing. The stem which 

 anchors this floating mass of fronds, though no thicker than whip-cord, must be of 

 considerable strength and flexibility ; and accordingly we find it employed as 

 a fishing line by the rude natives of the coast. But great as is the length of this 

 seaweed, it is exceeded by the Macrocystis, whose stems are calculated by Dr. 

 Hooker* occasionally to reach 700 feet, while Bory St. Vincent attributes to them 

 a length of 1500 feet. These are the longest fronded of the Order, and .indeed the 

 longest vegetables that are known. Others, as the Lessonias of the Pacific and 

 Southern Oceans, though of less height have stems of much greater bole, and a 

 habit that reminds us of some large endogenous arborescent plants, as the Aloe 

 dichotoma or as the Dracama Draco. These gigantic Algas have trunks of con- 

 siderable diameter and height, branched dichotomously, each branch bearing at its 

 summit bunches of long ribbon-like leaves. Torn from the submerged rocks on 

 which they grow, these marine trees are driven ashore on the rocky coasts of the 

 Falkland Islands in great numbers, and lie, as Dr. Hooker well describes, rotting 

 for many a mile, in banks several yards in breadth and three or four feet in depth. 

 The trunks, from which the leaves have been washed, resemble drift-wood, and 

 " on one occasion" (as related by Dr. Hooker) " no persuasion could prevent the 

 captain of a brig from employing his boat's crew, during two bitterly cold days, in 

 collecting this incombustible weed for fuel." Another noble genus of the Southern 

 Ocean (Ecklonia) may be com^pared to the Palm in habit, having pinnated fronds of 

 large size. One of the best known species, the Trumpet-weed (Ecklonia biiccinalis) of 

 the Cape of Good Hope, has a stem often more than twenty feet in height, crowned 

 with a fan-shaped cluster of leaves, each twelve feet long or more. The stem of 

 this seaweed which is hollow in the upper portion is, when dried, often used in the 

 colony as a siphon ; and by the native herdsmen is formed into a trumpet for 

 collecting the cattle at evening. But perhaps the most curious plants of the Order 



* Fi. Antarct. vol. 3, p. 464. 



