rucACE^. 41 



The Greekyvoria pycnos, thick, andphycos, a sea- weed, 

 furnish the not very descriptive name of this small but 

 well-marked and widely distributed genus, whose geo- 

 graphical range extends from the south of Africa, along 

 the Atlantic and Mediterranean shores of that conti- 

 nent, and Europe as far north as the west coast of 

 Ireland. 



Pycnophycus tuberculatus. Tubercular Pycno- 

 phycus. 



Even when seen for the first time, this plant can 

 scarcely be confounded with any other. Its smooth 

 cylindrical fronds, bright olive-colour, and fibrous root, 

 are unmistakeable characters. In consequence of its 

 succulent texture it can only grow under water, and is, 

 therefore, to be found in pools which are never left 

 empty by the tide. For the same reason it shrinks much 

 in drying ; indeed the change is so great that the collec- 

 tor can scarcely believe the shrivelled, black, dried speci- 

 men to be identical with the handsome bright-coloured 

 plant which he gathered. 



Genus V. FUCUS. 

 Root a conical disc. Frond flat, with a midrib, or com- 

 pressed without, forked. Air-vessels, one-celled, in the sub- 

 stance of the frond, not always present. T'ructification in 

 receptacles at or near the ends of the branchlets, or on inde- 

 pendent stems or shoots. 



Phycos was the Greek word for sea-weed, and early 

 writers on the subject adopted Fucus as a generic name 

 for nearly half the marine Algae with which they were 

 acquainted. Modern research has led to the construc- 

 tion of many new genera to which the bulk of the plants 

 formerly belonging to this genus have been referred. 



