82 THE JOURNAL OF BOTANY 
COLPOMENIA SINUOSA IN BRITAIN. 
By A. D. Corton, F.L.S. 
Durine the past two or three years the brown alga Colpo- 
menia sinuosa Derbes & Sol. has: been recorded for the first time 
but which had not previously been found in Europe further north 
than om diz.. In the Gulf of Morbihan, and at Cherbourg, this 
alga now occurs in abundance, and is, moreover, causing con- 
siderable anxiety to the oyster- -cultivators, on account of the 
damage it occasions to their industry. 
During 7 Colpomenia was discovered in two localities in 
Britain: at Torquay, by Mr. E. M. Holmes; and at Swanage, by 
the writer. At Torquay the plan t was pee Ap for ro 
most part sterile; after careful searching, however, Mr. Hol 
succeeded in finding fertile ae A fall. idee of “the 
appearance of Colpomenia in the English Channel, together with 
a of the plant and references to literature, will be found 
e Kew Bulletin, 1908, No. 2. 
The subject is brought before the notice of readers of thi 
Journal in the hope that further information may be obtained as 
to the presence of this alga on the south coast, = as to — 
ence Si the Gulf Stream is sufficient to account for the luxuriant 
owth of a southern is but since the conditions of the English 
Channel appear to be so suitable, it is not easy to understand why 
an alga that has been khows from Cadiz for over a century should 
not have previously spread in a northerly direction, especially as the 
Portuguese coast receives th benefit Gulf Strea 
The manner of its arrival on the British shores i is equally obscure. 
If the alga is slowly s spreading up the Channel, currents may be 
largely responsible for its dispersal; on the other hand, it may 
have been introduced by vessels. It is possible also that Colpo- 
menia may have been conveyed to meee with ee oysters that 
ve a from France to be “ fattened” glish 
ure-grounds ; ape gos as to this Doig: a not yet to 
hand Any details as to its presence in other localities might 
do much towards prpeee up the question 
The French ostréiculteurs have given Colpomenia the name of 
Ballons,” from their frequently becoming detached from the sub- 
stratum and rising to the eure of the water. The “ Ballo 
are irregular in shape, and vary from the size of a marble to that 
of a tennis ball. Sauvageau accounts for the tendency to float as 
