III. 



BOTANY : MARINE ALG^E. 



Prof. W. G. Farlow. 



MARINE ALGM. 



To those persons interested in botany who attend the sessions of 

 the American Association, the coast of Massachusetts bay offers 

 much that is attractive. Cape Cod forms the dividing line between 

 the northern and the southern marine floras of our Atlantic coast. 

 North of Cape Cod, if we except a few warm, sheltered coves, 

 the species of marine alga? are those characteristic of arctic and 

 sub-arctic seas and practically all the more striking forms found 

 from Nahant northward extend to the coast of Greenland. The 

 points most accessible and most likely to afford a good bird's-eye 

 view of the marine vegetation are Nahant and Magnolia, the for- 

 mer easily reached by boat or by train from Lynn, the latter by 

 trains on the Gloucester branch. The botanist who is not in the 

 habit of collecting on coasts which have a marked tide should not 

 allow himself to suppose that the beaches in which our coast abounds 

 are good places for obtaining a knowledge of the marine flora at 

 short notice. After the storms of spring and autumn the beaches 

 are often covered with algas, some of which may be rare; but es- 

 pecially in the summer months they are often quite bare, and it 

 is only on rocky shores that one can always be sure of finding 

 something of interest. The inland botanist should also bear in 

 mind that even on the rocky shores of this coast he will find little 

 or nothing unless the tide be at least half-way out. 



Whether the visitor goes to Nahant or Magnolia or other rocky 

 points the species he finds will be the same. The littoral region, 

 or the space between high- and low-water marks, is very character- 

 7 (") 



