52 Tromsø Museums Aarshefter. 14 1891. 



This species was described by L y n g b y e after speci- 

 mens collected at the Fåroe Islands and at Svinor in the 

 neighbourhood of Lindesnes, the latter epiphytic on the leaf 

 of Laminaria sacharina. Cp. Lyngb. 1. c. Some years 

 ago I collected a small Sphacclaria at the last named place 

 on the quoted host plant, pretty comraon on the stem as 

 well as on the leaf. Besides I also found the plant on the 

 stem and leaf of Laminaria chgitata and L. iniermedia, As- 

 perococcus bullosus, Bhodomela subfusca, Geramium rubrum, 

 Polysiphonia nigrescens and P, elongata. 



Some of these specimens agree well with the descrip- 

 tion and figure given by Lyngbye. His description is, 

 however, too incomplete in the case with so nearly connec- 

 ted species as some of the Sphacélariæ , so that it may be 

 uncertain whether any of my specimens really belong to S. 

 cæspitula. K j e 1 1 m a n describes the species in his Handbok 

 I, p. 59. A few of the specimens that I have referred to 

 S. cirrhosa f. nana J. G. Ag as well as some other ones 

 previously referred to S. cæspilula coincide well with his de- 

 scription of the vegetative part of the plant, but with respect 

 to the propagula there is a great difference. The propagu- 

 la of S. cæspitula as described by K j e 1 1 m a n are like tho- 

 se of S. tribuloides. In my specimens, on the other hand, 

 they are most nearly related to those of S. olivacea. I do 

 not know whether Kjell man has seen Lyngbyens original 

 specimen, or the described propagula has been found on spe- 

 cimens from Nordland. Cp. Kjel lm. 1. c. 



Reinke refers S. cæspitula Lyngb. to a section of 

 the genus by which «die Basalscheibe steckt im Gewebe der 

 grosseren Algen, auf welchen die Pflånzchen wachsen», This 

 is the case by some of my specimens growing on L saccha* 

 rina and L. intermedia most nearly related to S. cirrhosa f. 



nana. 



